Leroy Hood

Waksman Institute - Rutgers University
Busch Campus
Piscataway, New Jersey
September 22, 1994 at 4:00 PM

Topic of Discussion

The challenge of biotechnology, as we move into the 21st century, resides in deciphering and manipulating the various types of biological information--the one-dimensional chromosomal strings, the three-dimensional information of the protein molecular machines, and the four-dimensional information of complex biological systems and networks. I will discuss some of the technical challenges posed by the need to analyze DNA and proteins (e.g. problems requiring chemistry, engineering, and computer science), as well as their application to representative complex biological systems (e.g. sea urchin development, HIV diversity, cell lineages in complex tissues, and protein folding). Powerful new tools are also available for the manipulation of biological information.

DIMACS Center - Rutgers University
CoRE Building Lecture Hall - Busch Campus
Piscataway, New Jersey
September 23,1994 at 11:30 AM

Topic of Discussion

The Human Genome Project aims to decipher human heredity through the generation of genetic, physical, and sequence maps for the 24 different human chromosomes. There is also a commitment to create similar maps for four simpler organisms: a bacterium, a yeast, a round worm, and a fly, as well as the mouse, an organism of genomic complexity comparable to humans. The computational challenges in this project are diverse: those associated with genome data extraction, storage, analysis, modeling, and distribution. I will discuss the general nature of the biological information embedded in human chromosomes, the current view of progress in the genome program, the major technical computational challenges posed by this initiative, and the implications this program will have for biology and medicine over the next 25 years.

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Document last modified on October 31, 1994