Student Article High School Science Journal Author: Paulo Onuchic

The Union of Sciences

August 05, 2007

The future of the sciences no longer relies on the conventional disciplines, but on the interface of these disciplines. Over the last few years, some of the most progress has been seen between biology and physics. Biology, which has become just a huge amount of data and facts, has needed the help of physicists to find explanations to the question biologists have been trying to figure out for years.

       Physicists use their knowledge and data to build models of complex biological systems. As large amounts of data pile up, physicists are trying to make sense of it all. The theories of complex systems are mathematical tools that involve non-linear equations to model biological phenomena that cannot be explained by simple hypothesis. Examples of such phenomena are the dynamics and topology of neuro and genetic networks, structural prediction of proteins and RNA, pattern formation at all biological scales, and models for ecological systems and evolution.

      One of the best examples of the success of the interaction between biology and the quantitative sciences is the sequencing of the human genome. The sequence of the human genome was achieved by piecing together small parts of long nucleic acid sequences that were arranged in the laboratory. Going against the general belief, computer scientists proposed that by combining new powerful computers with advanced numerical algorithms, they would be able to piece together very short parts of the genome sequence instead of the long ones that were needed with the old computer science technology. This created what was called the “Shotgun” approach to the genome sequencing, making the solution to this problem possible with a much smaller experimental effort and many years before it was expected.

      Another interesting application has been the combination of protein folding theory and a large protein data base (PDB), which has the structures of all proteins that have been determined by x-ray crystallography or NMR, to predict unknown structures of proteins for which we know only the one-dimensional sequence. In a large world effort, scientists are combining these structure prediction techniques with faster high throughput methods of x-ray crystallography and NMR to determine the structure of as many proteins as possible.

      A new hot field where the combination of the quantitative and life sciences is needed is called systems biology. This is the field in which scientists are trying to understand how different biological networks operate. For example, in the case of genetic networks, how proteins created by one gene may regulate other genes. Similar ideas may be applied to metabolic and immune systems.

      The unification of physics and biology has led to some of the most important discoveries in the past decade. This includes the Human Genome Project, genetic networks, and protein structure. As these discoveries and information build up, physicists are working alongside biologists to answer their questions. These challenges are the building blocks to the future of the sciences.

 
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