We define computational biology in the broadest sense of the term. For us, a computational biologist is a someone who is expert in using modern software tools to explore the function of living systems. He or she discovers answers to significant biomedical questions by applying these tools to the analysis and synthesis of biological, physical, and chemical data. The discipline is not new. It has its roots in mathematical biology and has attracted distinguished scientific minds for nearly two centuries.
But with the advent of ever more extensive public and private databases, and with the explosive development of World Wide Web, computational biology has achieved a high-profile, rapid-growth position in the biomedical marketplace. The great potential of computational biology is the ability to extract useful knowledge from enormously complex biological data.
Computational biology subsumes many specialties. Among them are:
No research group can expect to establish and maintain expertise in all of these subdisciplines. BioInformatics Services has chosen to focus on one that, in our experience, is critical for the solution of complex problems that arise in cell biology and in animal and human physiology and pathophysiology. Our core skill is computer modeling of dynamic biological systems or integrative bioinformatics. If you are constantly confronted with the enormous complexity of biological systems and are searching for tools to deal with this complexity, we should talk.