Computational Biology

Computational Biology is an interdisciplinary field that applies computational methods to biological problems. It involves the development and application of data-analytical and theoretical methods, mathematical modeling and computational simulation techniques to the study of biological, ecological, behavioral, and social systems.

Overview

Computational biology, which also includes many aspects of bioinformatics, is the science of using biological data to develop algorithms or models to understand biological systems and relationships. Until recently, biologists did not have access to very large amounts of data. This data is now being generated by using modern technology such as genome sequencing, high-throughput drug screening, and DNA arrays; it is often said that biology is moving from being a lab-based science to a data intensive science, like physics and astronomy. With this shift in paradigm, computational biology has become an important part of biological research, as large amounts of data have to be interpreted to make sense of biological phenomena.

History

The term "computational biology" was first used in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but the concept of using computers in biology goes back to at least the 1960s. The field of computational biology has been driven by advances in molecular biology, genomics, and computer science.

Applications

Computational biology has been used in a wide variety of applications, including gene finding, sequence alignment, protein structure prediction, drug design, and phylogenetics.

See also

• Bioinformatics
• Genomics
• Proteomics
• Systems biology
• Molecular modeling
• Drug discovery
• Phylogenetics

External links

• PLoS Computational Biology
• International Society for Computational Biology

Computational Biology Resources
Latest articles Most recent articles Ongoing trials	Wikipedia