Computers and DNA

The fields of molecular biology and genetics are faced with an enormous accumulation of information: DNA sequencing, associated sequences of amino acids in proteins, genetics, macromolecular structures and other sets have created a quantitative backlog of data which needs to be organized and analyzed. Moreover, the rate of data acquisitions is accelerating as improved technologies are used and as organized programs such as the Human Genome Initiative are established. Because of this data’s importance, molecular biologists have turned to computational scientists for help in processing this mass of information.

The Santa Fe Institute organized a workshop on “The Interface Between Computational Science and DNA Sequencing” in 1998 to address this information crisis. Approximately one hundred molecular biologists, computer scientists, mathematicians, and other scientists in diverse fields met to discuss how computational science can best keep pace with molecular biology. The papers presented at that meeting and included in this volume serve as a comprehensive introduction to the field and as a discussion of research on some of the current problems.