Prospectus

In the "Human Genome Project" that started at the end of the 1980s, the genome, the basic data of life, is systematically analyzed. Since then, the genome of more than 100 species from human to bacteria has been analyzed, and the whole genome for more than 20 species has been sequenced. These advances produced massive amounts of data including genomic sequences that made computer technology indispensable for further developments. As a result, information processing underwent a transformation from a tool for data analysis to a sophisticated means for the discovery and management of information pertaining to genome sequence, gene-expression, and genome-mutations. In addition, information processing techniques are used to handle information on the cellular-, individual-, and species level and the entire life science field is now computerized. Consequently, the importance of the new academic discipline of bioinformatics has become widely acknowledged and it will be the key academic area of the 21st century.

Bioinformatics attempts to model the life system, or at least its components, on a computer by analyzing and utilizing genetic information. By implementing the construction principles of life on a computer, the gate to applied research opens and it will become possible to design species that can decompose environmental pollutants, to mass-produce industrial commodities by using the ecosystem, to identify pathogenetic genes from network predictions, and to develop therapeutic products based on dynamic sensitivity predictions. In both Europe and the USA, bioinformatics is ranked high both as an occupation and as a research topic. Moreover, the International Society for Computational Biology was founded and seeks input regarding research, education, and industry.

For 21st century biology and medical and other sciences, further advances in bioinformatics are indispensable. Consequently, we need a society that can address basic and applied research in bioinformatics, bioinformatics education, the improvement of the bioinformatics infrastructure such as databases and networks, and intellectual property rights on biological information. Therefore, to develop the academic discipline of bioinformatics, to promote advances in its technology and affiliated specialities, and to establish its educational basis, we founded the Japanese Society for Bioinformatics.

Founders of the Japanese Society for Bioinformatics

Yutaka Akiyama	Tatsuya Akutsu	Kiyoshi Asai	Minoru Asogawa	Setsuo Arikawa
Toshimichi Ikemura	Tooru Ishida	Masaharu Isoyama	Nobuyuki Ichiyoshi	Shigeo Ihara
Hitoshi Iba	Hiroshi Imai	Ikuo Uchiyama	Yukihiro Eguchi	Kousaku Okubo
Akira Oyama	Masahiro Okamoto	Jun Ogiwara	Kentaro Onizuka	Shigehiko Kanaya
Minoru Kanehisa	Hajime Kitakami	Hiroaki Kitano	Yasuhiko Kitamura	Satoru Kuhara
Akihiko Konagaya	Osamu Gotoh	Susumu Goto	Seiya Saitou	Yasufumi Sakakibara
Kenji Sato	Akinori Sarai	Takeshi Shinohara	Ayumi Shinohara	Toshio Shimizu
Hideaki Sugawara	Akira Suyama	Makiko Suwa	Takako Takai	Toshihisa Takagi
Yoshimasa Takahashi	Hidetoshi Tanaka	Satoshi Tabata	Junichi Tsujii	Takao Terano
Yukihiro Toh	Masaru Tomita	Kenta Nakai	Akihide Nakashima	Kotoko Nakata
Noriyuki Nakanishi	Haruki Nakamura	Keiichi Nagai	Takaaki Nishioka	Ken Nishikawa
Katsumi Nitta	Yasuhisa Nemoto	Masami Hagiya	Akihiro Hashimoto	Haretsugu Hishigaki
Makoto Hirosawa	Hiroshi Fukagawa	Masao Fukagawa	Nobuhiro Fukushima	Yuzuru Fushimi
Yoshiji Fujita	Asao Fujiyama	Emiko Furuichi	Hiroshi Matsuo	Hideo Matsuda
Yuji Matsumoto	Hiroshi Mamitsuka	Hiroshi Mizushima	Shigeki Mitaku	Nobuo Minoshima
Satoru Miyano	Shinichi Morishita	Hirotada Mori	Teruo Yasunaga	Tetsushi Yada
Kenji Yamamoto	Kazumasa Yokota	Takashi Yokomori	Akinori Yonezawa