Bioinformatics: A New Approach for the Challenges of Molecular Biology

Abstract

We describe the research being undertaken by the ALGOS/KDBIO and Biological Sciences groups of Instituto Superior Tecnico on the field of bioinformatics and computational biology, with emphasis on the efforts under way to develop new approaches, methods and algorithms for the determination of gene regulatory networks. We put the field in perspective by first looking at recent developments in the field of bioinformatics, and how these developments contributed to the advance of science. We then describe the approach that is being followed, based on the development of algorithms and information systems for the problems of motif detection, gene expression analysis and inference of gene regulatory networks. We conclude by pointing out possible directions for future research in the fields of systems biology and synthetic biology, two critical areas for the development of science in the coming years.