Mathematical and Theoretical Biology - Importance

Importance

Applying mathematics to biology has a long history, but only recently has there been an explosion of interest in the field. Some reasons for this include:

  • the explosion of data-rich information sets, due to the genomics revolution, which are difficult to understand without the use of analytical tools,
  • recent development of mathematical tools such as chaos theory to help understand complex, non-linear mechanisms in biology,
  • an increase in computing power which enables calculations and simulations to be performed that were not previously possible, and
  • an increasing interest in in silico experimentation due to ethical considerations, risk, unreliability and other complications involved in human and animal research.

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