Guiding readers from the elucidation and analysis of a genomic sequence to the prediction of a protein structure and the identification of the molecular function, Introduction to Bioinformatics describes the rationale and limitations of the bioinformatics methods and tools that can help solve biological problems. Requiring only a limited mathematical and statistical background, the book shows how to efficiently apply these approaches to biological data and evaluate the resulting information.

The author, an expert bioinformatics researcher, first addresses the ways of storing and retrieving the enormous amount of biological data produced every day and the methods of decrypting the information encoded by a genome. She then covers the tools that can detect and exploit the evolutionary and functional relationships among biological elements. Subsequent chapters illustrate how to predict the three-dimensional structure of a protein. The book concludes with a discussion of the future of bioinformatics.

Even though the future will undoubtedly offer new tools for tackling problems, most of the fundamental aspects of bioinformatics will not change. This resource provides the essential information to understand bioinformatics methods, ultimately facilitating in the solution of biological problems.

Tumour evolution is a complex process involving many different phenomena. Mathematical modelling and computer simulations can help us understand these phenomena, but their development requires a multidisciplinary background-one that includes an understanding of the biological phenomena involved and knowledge of the mathematical techniques used to obtain both qualitative and quantitative results.

Cancer Modelling and Simulation builds the requisite biological foundation and presents the mathematical models and methods most useful for understanding the dynamics of tumour development and growth. In chapters contributed by an interdisciplinary team of leading researchers, this book addresses the entire modelling process, from phenomenological observation to simulation and validation, through the development of mathematical models and their qualitative and quantitative study.

This treatment effectively links the analytical, mathematical, and biological aspects of tumour growth modelling to provide researchers from multiple disciplines with the common language and practical knowledge they need to break down the barriers that can hamper interdisciplinary research. Cancer Modelling and Simulation is an important contribution to the field that undoubtedly will stimulate and remain a valuable reference for continued research for many years.