Summary AI-generated
- TL;DR
- This chapter explores the decisive role that computers have played in sequencing and understanding the genomes of humans and other organisms.
- Problem
- Not specified in the abstract.
- Method
- Building on the discovery of DNA's structure by Watson and Crick, the field of computational biology uses computer models and algorithms to simulate, model, and understand biological systems.
- Results
- Not specified in the abstract.
- Contributions
- Not specified in the abstract.
- Limitations
- Not specified in the abstract.
- Takeaways
- A deep computational understanding of biology enables the creation of computer models for cells and entire organisms, while paving the way for synthetic biology and the creation of entirely new lifeforms.
- Applications
- Not specified in the abstract.
- Topics
- Computational biology, bioinformatics, genomics, and synthetic biology.
- For industry
- Not specified in the abstract.
- Why it matters
- Not specified in the abstract.
Abstract
This chapter describes how computers played a decisive role in the sequencing and understanding of the genomes of humans and other organisms. The discovery of the structure of DNA, by Watson and Crick, opened the way to a systematic approach to biology, based on the study of the way DNA encodes the proteins in all living cells. The area that became known as computational biology, or bioinformatics, aims at modelling, simulating, and understanding the behaviour of biological systems, using computer models and algorithms. Such a deep understanding will enable us to create computer models of cells and of entire organisms and even, in the future, open the doors to the creation of entirely new lifeforms, a field known as synthetic biology.