With no doubt, biology was one of the most remarkable tales of science progress in 20 th century. Biologists found that the DNA molecules on chromosome encode the instructions of heredity. These instructions are then read out in their entirety via RNA into proteins, which specify biological morphology and function in this colorful world.
In 21 st century, this discipline is focus increasingly on the study of entire biological systems, by analyzing how component parts collaborate to create a whole, by mining the numerous data from experimenters and different high-throughput techniques. So it is rapidly becoming an information science, by taking advantage of the power of computing science, another one of the most remarkable tales of science progress in 20 th century.
Bioinformatics, by definition, refers to research, development, or application of computational tools and approaches for expanding the use of biological, medical, behavioral or health data, including those to acquire, store, organize, archive, analyze, or visualize such data. Computational biology means the development and application of data-analytical and theoretical methods, mathematical modeling and computational simulation techniques to the study of biological, behavioral, and social systems. ( Source: NIH Bioinformatics Definition Committee. July, 2000. ) However, for most of the time, bioinformatics and computational biology are interchangeable.
