Computational Gold: Data mining and bioinformatics software for the next millennium

Table of Bioinformatics Systems (Enhanced version) The entire process of discovery and invention is a marriage of inquiry, experimentation, and observation, and the product of learning and extending upon the findings of previous investigations. Many of the major scientific and technological discoveries of the 20th century were in part a product of knowledgeable, intuitive researchers who utilized innovative problem-solving approaches and protocols and had the experimental means and comprehens

Written byChris Smith

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Experimental means have advanced significantly since the early years of paper, wire, stick, and ball modeling techniques and now include mathematical approaches that use advanced computer systems and data processing techniques. And more dramatically so, information and ready access to information--from unpublished results (for example, personal communications and poster presentations) to data in voluminous data sets (for example, GenBank, SWISS-PROT, PDB)--continue to have a significant impact on the application of experimental approaches and hence scientific discovery.

Affymetrix's LIMS Process diagram

In the early years of modern discovery, research findings would appear in a journal, then get buried in some library archive. In addition, the information existed in various formats--textual, graphic, hard copy, tape, film, and so on--and was not easily archived or retrievable using technologies of the day. Data analyses were generally limited to the slide rule and manual manipulation. Over the past decade, however, technological ...

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