Title: Bioinformatics and Systems Biology: An Overview

Author: Eric Werner, Ph.D.

Contact: eric.werner@cellnomica.com

Abstract

A short overview and perspective on present and future trends in bioinformatics and systems biology aimed at CEO's and decision makers involved in strategic development of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies is presented. The emphasis is not on details; some reviews are cited for that, but rather on the vision of where we are heading and to assist the decision maker in strategic planning of research and development. Research budgets can be in the hundreds of millions and billions of dollars. No CEO or decision maker can afford to be ignorant of the broad directions of the software tools that may help the company to position itself in rapidly evolving fields such as biotechnology and pharmaco-genomics. Indeed, brand new markets are opening up that offer unprecedented opportunities as well as giant challenges to traditional pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Much like the beginnings of the PC market, large corporations will loose market share and even be replaced entirely if they do not face up and adapt to these challenges.