This book provides a "reading knowledge" of biology to those coming into the field from the perspective of computer science - particularly from the areas of information retrieval and/or machine learning. Written by a Computer Scientist for Computer Scientists, the text explores three different facets of biology: biological systems, experimental methods, and language and nomenclature. The author discusses what biologists are trying to determine from their experiments, how various experimental procedures are used and how they relate to accepted concepts in computer science, and the vocabulary necessary to read and understand current literature in biology. Researchers, professionals and computer science students will find this an invaluable reference tool and an excellent starting point for a more comprehensive examination of cell biology.

Klappentext

This practical guide provides a succinct treatment of the general concepts of cell biology, furnishing the computer scientist with the tools necessary to read and understand current literature in the field.

The book explores three different facets of biology: biological systems, experimental methods, and language and nomenclature. After a brief introduction to cell biology, the text focuses on the principles behind the most-widely used experimental procedures and mechanisms, relating them to well-understood concepts in computer science.

The presentation of the material has been prepared for the reader's quick grasp of the topic: comments on nomenclature and background notes can be ascertained at a glance, and essential vocabulary is boldfaced throughout the text for easy identification.

Computer science researchers, professionals and computer science students will find this an incomparable resource and an excellent starting point for a more comprehensive examination of cell biology.

"This concise book is an excellent introduction for computer scientists to the exciting revolution under way in molecular biology. It provides lucid, high-level descriptions of the fundamental molecular mechanisms of life, and discusses the computational principles involved. I wish this little gem was available when I was 'learning the ropes' it would have been my first choice of reading material."

--Roni Rosenfeld, Carnegie Mellon University

Zusammenfassung

A Computer Scientist's Guide to Cell Biology provides a "reading knowledge" of biology to those coming into the field from the perspective of computer science-particularly from the areas of information retrieval and/or machine learning.

The text explores three different facets of biology: biological systems, experimental methods, and language and nomenclature. The author discusses what biologists are trying to determine from their experiments, how various experimental procedures are used and how they relate to accepted concepts in computer science, and the vocabulary necessary to read and understand current literature in biology.

Researchers, professionals and computer science students will find this an invaluable reference tool and an excellent starting point for a more comprehensive examination of cell biology.

Inhalt
How Cells Work.- The Complexity of Living Things.- Looking at Very Small Things.- Manipulation of the Very Small.- Reprogramming Cells.- Other Ways to Use Biology for Biological Experiments.- Bioinformatics.- Where to go from here?.