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 Prospectus

Drafted on Oct 27, 1999.


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

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