The genomic era has seen a massive explosion in the amount of biological
information available due to huge advances in the fields of molecular
biology and genomics.
Bioinformatics is the application of
computer technology to the management and analysis of biological data.
The result is that computers are being used to gather,
store, analyse and merge biological data.
Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary research area that is the interface between
the biological and computational sciences.
The ultimate goal of bioinformatics is to uncover the wealth of biological
information hidden in the mass of data and obtain a clearer insight into
the fundamental biology of organisms. This new knowledge could have profound
impacts on fields as varied as human health, agriculture, the environment,
energy and biotechnology.
