From philosophy of computational quantum chemistry to philosophy of computational biology

COMP 12

Buyong Ma, Laboratory of Experimental and Computational Biology, Laboratory of Experimental and Computational Biology, Basic Research Program, SAIC, NCI-FCRDC, Frederick, MD 21702
Computational chemistry has expanded from computation of hydrogen molecule to computation of living cell. Applying theories from ab initio quantum mechanics to various simplified models, the virtual worlds explored by computations provide different replicas of real world phenomena. What kind of mapping relationships should we expected from our studies? How do we interact with experimental information? The computational biology is in the world with complex organization, for which a unified theory is yet to be proposed. A computational biological model, even with clear physical or chemical meanings, may not be necessarily reduced to physics or chemistry. One common theme from computational quantum chemistry to computational biology is that the virtual worlds can affect our perception of real world. To make the perception to be truth, we have to increase mutual interaction of computation and experiment.
 

Computers in Chemistry General
8:20 AM-12:20 PM, Sunday, August 22, 2004 Pennsylvania Convention Center -- 104A&B, Oral

Division of Computers in Chemistry

The 228th ACS National Meeting, in Philadelphia, PA, August 22-26, 2004