Biologia i computació

Authors

  • Roderic Guigó Serra

Abstract

Biology and computation. Biology and Computation became inextricably linked during the second half of the 20th century. During the first decade of the 21st century, advances in methods to sequence nucleic acids, coupled with more general advances in automation, robotization, and multiplexing, have resulted in the capacity to survey the phenomena of life with unprecedented resolution. Data on life systems at all scales, from cells to ecosystems, is being collected at a pace that outstrips the capacity of current computational systems. On the other hand, the capacity to survey biological phenomena in a systemic way is turning Biology, traditionally an analytic science in which the natural world is dissected in its elemental components in order to be comprehended, into a synthetic science, where the challenge to human intelligence is to integrate multiple, heterogeneous, large-scale sources of information in order to generate biological knowledge. Beyond pure data storage and access, during the 21st century computers will play an increasingly important role in all steps of scientific endeavor, from data acquisition to analysis and interpretation ―possibly including autonomous reasoning―, hypothesis generation and testing.

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Published

2012-03-01