Biomedical and ICT

[International Committee of the Red Cross (CICR), Geneva, Switzerland - Alvin Wei-Cheng Wong]

"Biotech is the New Digital" -- Prof. Nicholas Negroponte, Founder, MIT Media Lab..

[California Biomedical Research Association]: Biomedical research is the broad area of science that involves the investigation of the biological process and the causes of disease through careful experimentation, observation, laboratory work, analysis, and testing. Scientists expand this knowledge base to discover ways to prevent ill-health, and to develop beneficial products, medications, and procedures to treat and cure diseases and conditions that cause illness and death in ourselves, our families and friends, our pets, farm animals, and wildlife. Biomedical research requires the input and participation of many individuals from both the life and physical sciences, with many different backgrounds and skills. Such a research team might include medical doctors, veterinarians, computer scientists, engineers, technicians, researchers, and a variety of scientists from the different fields of the life sciences.

Bioinformatics highlights the application of statistics, data mining, artificial intelligence, neural networks, machine learning and natural language processing techniques to computationally difficult problems in molecular biology.  It is dedicated to provide researchers the knowledge and skills necessary for the invention of algorithms and the creation of computational systems that facilitate the understanding of biological processes and application of these tools and methods to individuals and communities through public health and prevention programs.  Meanwhile, advances in high-throughput biotechnology and novel bioassays at the single-cell level have fundamentally changed the way people study biology.  Following the decyphering of human genome at the turn of the century, interplay of bioinformatics and novel biotechnology has brought a new revolution in biomedical research.