Preface to the Minisymposium on Mathematical and Computational Approaches to Structure, Dynamics and Biology

摘要

This minisymposium deals with an exciting interdisciplinary topic that is emerging to be of great importance in many scientific disciplines from chemistry to biology. The spirit of this minisymposium is to highlight such computational and mathematical techniques that have made significant impact, especially in chemistry and biology. I have put together distinguished scientists who are working on the cutting edges of computational and mathematical approaches to chemistry and biology. As can be seen from the ensuing extended abstracts, the minisymposium covers a variety of topics dealing with mathematical and computational techniques to chemistry and biology. The presentations by Drs. Balasubramanian, Carbo-Dorca, Hosoya, King, Paldus, Silagi, and Takahashi deal with both novel mathematical and computational approaches to chemical problems of structural origin. The presentations by Drs. Fried and Gee deal with computational applications concerning dynamics and simulations pertinent to highly reactive fluids, spinodal-assisted polymer crystallization. The present author, Dr. Basak, Dr. Bonchev, Dr. Lionelleo, Dr. Moudgal and Dr. Sumners will present talks concerning both mathematical and computational applications to predictive toxicology, biology and the use of DNA knot theory to assay packing of DNA. In many of these complex biological and chemical applications experimental data are very hard to find and numerous practical applications ranging from the environment to drug industry demand for powerful predictions. Experimental studies on a large number of such chemicals and biological agents are also impractical and one must rely on such powerful predictive computational tools. This is the area were both mathematical and computational techniques can converge to make powerful impact and perhaps ahead of experimental science. The cost of making a new drug, for example, has dramatically been reduced due to the advent of such mathematical and computational techniques.