ABSTRACT
Life sciences are currently at the center of an informational revolution. Dramatic changes are being registered as a consequence of the development of techniques and tools that allow the collection of biological information at an unprecedented level of detail and in extremely large quantities. The human genome project is a compelling example. Initially, the plan to sequence the human genome was considered extremely ambitious, on the border of feasibility. The first serious effort was planned over 15 years at a cost of $3 billion. Soon after, the schedule was revised to last only 5 years. Eventually, the genome was sequenced in less than 3 years, at a cost much lower than initially expected [361]. The nature and amount of information now available open directions
[359], molecular diagnostics [86, 125, 260, 360, 376, 455] and drug target identification [302] are just a few of the many areas [163] that have the potential to use this information to change dramatically the scientific landscape in the life sciences.
