Computing in the biological sciences--a survey
Computing in the biological sciences--a survey
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生物科学中的计算——一项调查
DOI：
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发表时间：
1985
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
R. Beynon
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
R. Beynon
对于大多数生命科学家来说，将计算技术应用于他们的学科是相对较新的，并且主要是由于微型计算机广泛侵入他们的实验室而加速的。大约十年前，一个实验室计算机系统提供合理的内存和大容量存储和高级语言的成本比一个准备超级计算机贵几倍。今天，一个复杂的微型计算机系统，提供并行操作系统（允许一个以上的任务同时进行），以及足够的核心存储器和大容量存储器，以实现这些设施的好处，可以购买一个超级计算机的成本的一小部分。生物学家办公桌上的强大计算机可以相对容易地在成本的基础上得到合理的解释，但这种购买的科学原因却不那么容易发现。平均而言，生命科学家对计算的熟悉程度还不如对离心分离的熟悉程度。虽然前者的范围更为广泛，但在研究人员或教师的培训中所占比例很小。显然，任何提高这一领域意识的发展，包括生物科学中的计算机应用（CABIOS），将在未来发挥重要作用。CABIOS被认为对生命科学计算的发展做出了重要贡献。因此，这本杂志必须满足读者的需求，并对建议作出回应，包括被认为有价值的主题或功能。在这种情况下，出版商发起了一项调查，其中一些生物学家意识到计算的价值，并使用了从这次调查中获得的信息来建立期刊的形式。本文概述了调查结果，并简要评论了CABIOS在其形成阶段将采取的编辑政策。
For most life scientists, the application of computational techniques to their subject is relatively new and has been precipitated largely by the widespread incursion of microcomputers into their laboratories. About ten years ago a laboratory computer system offering reasonable memory and mass storage and a high level language cost several times more than a preparative ultracentrifuge. Today, a sophisticated microcomputer system, offering concurrent operating systems (allowing more than one task to proceed simultaneously), and sufficient core memory and mass storage to realise the benefits of such facilities can be purchased for a small fraction of the cost of an ultracentrifuge. Powerful computers that sit on the desks of biologists can be justified relatively easily on the basis of cost, but scientific reasons for such purchases are not so easy to discover. On average, life scientists are not yet as familiar with computing as they are, for example, with centrifugation. Although the scope of the former is more widespread it constitutes a small proportion of the training of the researcher or teacher. Clearly, any development that increases awareness in this area, including Computer Applications In The Biosciences (CABIOS), will have an important role to play in the future. CABIOS has been conceived as making an important contribution to the development of the computing in the life sciences. As such, this journal must meet the needs of the readership and respond to suggestions to include topics or features that are perceived to be of value. In this context, the publishers initiated a survey of some of the group of biologists who are aware of the value of computing, and have used the information that derived from this survey in establishing the form of the journal. Presented here is an overview of the results of the survey together with brief comments on the editorial policy that CABIOS will adopt in its formative stage.