shenkin@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Peter S. Shenkin) (05/13/91)
In article <34333@mimsy.umd.edu> comp-bio@genbank.bio.net writes: >My question is: In your opinion, what would make an ideal computer system >for your research efforts in terms of performance, ease of use, >accessibility, hardware and software, etc.? Could you please tell us what you mean by a biocomputation lab? Biocomputation is diverse as: refining x-ray structures (FP-numerical) 2D image processing (FP-numerical) sequence searching and alignment (database / integer operations / statistics) molecular dynamics / monte carlo / E-minimization (FP-numerical) molecular graphics (graphics / software engineering) 3D reconstruction & tomography (FP-numerical, graphics) ecosystem modeling (finite element / FP-numerical) protein structure prediction (FP-numerical / neural nets / massive parallelization) etc., etc. I contend that biocomputation is nearly as broad a field as computation in general. Each of the above topics has its own SPECIFIC requirements; I've tried to indicate in parentheses a few computational "key words" pertinent to each of these areas. Neither the overall list nor the key-word list is exhaustive. Just what do you mean when you say "biocomputation"? I asked you that by personal electronic mail when you first posted your request, but although you thanked me for some other advice I enclosed, you never answered the question. As posed, the term "biocomputation lab" is too poorly defined to allow a meaningful reply. I do molecular graphics and protein structure prediction, and my needs are completely different from those of someone searching a gene bank. -P. ************************f*u*cn*rd*ths*u*cn*gt*a*gd*jb************************** Peter S. Shenkin, Department of Chemistry, Barnard College, New York, NY 10027 (212)854-1418 shenkin@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu(Internet) shenkin@cunixf(Bitnet) ***"In scenic New York... where the third world is only a subway ride away."*** -- --- Moderator --- Domain: curtiss@umiacs.umd.edu Phillip Curtiss UUCP: uunet!mimsy!curtiss UMIACS - Univ. of Maryland Phone: +1-301-405-6710 College Park, Md 20742