Computer Screen with Sequence Trace

image credit: U.S. Department of Energy Human Genome Program, http://www.ornl.gov/hgmis.

caption: Massive quantities of genomic data and high-throughput technologies are now enabling studies on a vastly larger scale than ever before, for example, in monitoring and comparing the activity of tens of thousands of genes simultaneously in cancerous and noncancerous tissue. Advanced computational tools and interdisciplinary experts are needed to capture, represent, store, integrate, distribute, and analyze all the data.

Bioinformatics is the term coined for the new field that merges biology, computer science, and information technology to manage and analyze the data, with the ultimate goal of understanding and modeling living systems. Computing and information demands will continue to rise with the explosive torrent of data from large-scale studies at the molecular, cellular, and whole-organism levels.

For more on the science behind the Human Genome Project, see our Website.

This image originally appeared in the 1992 U.S. DOE Primer on Molecular Genetics.

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