Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
From a practical sense, bioinformatics is a science that involves collecting, manipulating, analyzing,
and transmitting huge quantities of data, and uses computers whenever appropriate. As such, this
topic will use the term "bioinformatics" to refer to computational bioinformatics.
Clearly, times have changed in the years since the human genome was identified. Post-genomic
biology—whether focused on protein structures or public health—is a multidisciplinary, multimedia
endeavor. Clinicians have to be as fluent at reading a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) image of a
patient's chest cavity as molecular biologists are at reading X-ray crystallography and NMR
spectroscopy of proteins, nucleic acids, and carbohydrates. As such, computational methods and the
advanced mathematical operations they support are rapidly becoming part of the basic literacy of
every life scientist, whether he works in academia or in the research laboratory of a biotechnology
firm.
The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of bioinformatics, using the Central Dogma as
the organizing theme. It explores the relationship of molecular biology and bioinformatics to
computer science, and how informatics relates to other sciences. In particular, it illustrates the scope
of bioinformatics' applications from the consideration of nucleotide sequences to the clinical
presentation and, ultimately, the treatment of disease. This chapter also explores the challenges
faced by researchers and how they can be addressed by computer-based numerical methods that
encompass the full range of computer science endeavors, from archiving and communications to
pattern matching and simulation, to visualization methods and statistical tools. Specifically, the
section called "
The Killer Application
" examines at least one of the biotechnology industy's (biotech's)
holy grails, that of using bioinformatics techniques to create designer drugs. "Parallel Universes"
provides a historical view of how the initially independent fields of communications, computing, and
molecular biology eventually converged into an interdependent relationship under the umbrella of
biotechnology. "Watson's Definition" explores the Central Dogma, as defined by James Watson, and
"Top-Down Versus Bottom-Up" explores the divergent views created by scientists who are working
from first principles and those working from heuristics. The "
Information Flow
" section examines the
parallels of information transfer in communications systems and in molecular biology. Finally, the
convergence of computing, communications, and molecular biology is highlighted in "Convergence of
Science and Technology."
