Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics has emerged as new discipline at the interface of molecular bioscience with mathematics, computer science, and information technology. Bioinformatics is driven by data arising from high-throughput technologies in molecular bioscience. To enable biological discovery, bioinformatics draws on and extends technologies for data capture, management, integration and mining, computing, and communication technology. The rise of genomics has been a key driver for bioinformatics. Genomics, however, was never an end unto itself, but rather was intended to enable the understanding of complex biological systems. Bioinformatics continues to evolve in support of its constituent domains and, increasingly, their integration into genome-scale molecular systems biology. This chapter presents bioinformatics first from the perspective of computer science and information technology, then from the perspective of bioscience. In practice these perspectives often merge, making bioinformatics a rich, vibrant area of multidisciplinary research and application.