Bioinformation

The complexity of living systems is extremely high, much higher than the most sophisticated technical systems which have ever been developed by human creativity.

Facts about the complexity of (molecular) biological systems:

• approx. 60 trillion cells in the human body
• more than 200 different cell types
• approx. 100000 genes of the human genome encode a multiple of proteins
• 3 billion base pairs constitute the underlying genome
• and on each level and between them, there is a nearly unlimited combinatorial multiplicity of all kind of interactions and interrelations

Because of the complexity of the object, most areas of biological research, even in molecular biology and genetics, are still descriptive sciences producing an enormous amount of data. To apply the insights of these scientific disciplines is frequently hampered simply by the huge body of facts.

This situation can only be changed by an extensive implementation of the computer sciences. With its help, we have to establish intelligent systems which are not only able to manage research data, but are also able to extract and provide applicable information from these.

For this purpose, new concepts are required which combine new ways of publishing scientific research results by handling them in appropriate databases and evaluating them in a user-specific manner.

By the way: a significantly improved information flow will not only support the transfer of raw data from molecular biological basic research to medical and industrial applications (for which it will be indispensable in the long term), but will also provide the society with a proper basis for the discussion about chances and risks of new technologies in this area.