How Big Data in Biology is changing the world

Molecular biology is now a leading example of a data intensive science, with both pragmatic and theoretical challenges being raised by data volumes and dimensionality of the data. These changes are present in both “large scale” consortia science and small scale science, and across now a broad range of applications – from human health, through to agriculture and ecosystems. All of molecular life science is feeling this effect.

This shift in modality is creating a wealth of new opportunities and has some accompanying challenges. In particular there is a continued need for a robust information infrastructure for molecular biology. This ranges from the physical aspects of dealing with data volume through to the more statistically challenging aspects of interpreting it. A particular problem is finding causal relationships in the high level of correlative data. Drawing on recent experience Ewan Birney will explore both the “blue collar” challenges of data volume and the “white collar” challenges of interpretation.

He will talk about the serendipitous invention of using DNA for an entirely different reason – as a long-time horizon digital archiving material, describe this method and some of its benefits (as well as a few downsides) and explain how a future culture in 10,000 years time may still be able to read all of Shakespeare’s sonnets – and perhaps much more.

In cooperation with European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL).

Language: English.