Bioinformatics vs. Computational Biology

Bioinformatics refers to the study of large sets of biodata, biological statistics, and scientific study results. Some examples of bioinformatics studies include analyzing and integrating genetic and genomic data, cheminformatic comparisons of proteins to help improve personalized medicine, and predicting protein function from data sequence and structural information.

Computational biology, by contrast, is concerned with solutions to issues raised by studies in bioinformatics. Both disciplines are generally considered facets of the rapidly expanding data science and biotechnology fields. Computational biology is useful in scientific research, including examining how proteins interact with each other through the simulation of protein folding, motion, and interaction.

Bioinformatics and computational biology are two fields that have arisen from the growth of bioenterprises around the globe. BIO, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, predicts that advancements in biotechnology, bioinformatics, and computational biology will significantly assist the world as it faces the 21st century’s impending resource challenges.

The respective fields of bioinformatics and computational biology are often integrated with laboratories, research centers, or colleges. As both fields rely on the availability and accuracy of datasets, they usually help one another reach their respective project goals. While computational biology emphasizes the development of theoretical methods, computational simulations, and mathematical modeling, bioinformatics emphasizes informatics and statistics.

Though the two fields are interrelated, bioinformatics and computational biology differ in the kinds of needs they address. While both fields pursue greater utilization of our collective biological understanding, bioinformatics tends to concern itself with the gathering and collating biodata, and computational biology with the practical application of this biodata.

Check out the differences between the related fields of bioinformatics and computational biology for reference and clarification.

Arizona State University

Similarities, Differences, and Overlap: Bioinformatics vs. Computational Biology

BioinformaticsComputational Biology
DefinitionBioinformatics is the process by which biological problems posed by the assessment or study of biodata are interpreted and analyzed. Bioinformatics professionals develop algorithms, programs, codes, and analytic models to record and store biology-related data. This includes the study of the human genome, biochemical proteins, pharmacological ingredients, metabolic pathway readings, and much more. These sets of data form the basis of what is often seen as the next step in the process: computational biology.Computational Biology is concerned with solutions to issues raised by studies in bioinformatics. The phrases “bioinformatics” and “computational biology” are often used interchangeably, particularly in job descriptions or position titles. This is due, in part, to the fact that the two fields have been around for only a few short decades. Computational biology has been used to build highly detailed models of the human brain, map the human genome, and assist in modeling biological systems. Computational biology involves researching, developing, and implementing algorithms or tools that address biological questions, concerns, or challenges raised by bioinformatic analyses.
ApplicationsBioinformatics is a rich specialization in which the myriad uses of data are explored, from pharmacology to antibiotics, from green technologies to climate change studies. These, and many more, are included in a running list of bioinformatics applications in the fields of:

Microbial genome applications
Molecular medicine
Personalized medicine
Antibiotic resistance
Preventative medicine
Drug development
Gene therapy
Evolutionary studies
Biotechnology
Waste cleanup
Crop improvement
Insect resistance
Alternative energy sources
Artificial intelligence
Zoology
Animal behavioral studies
Climate change studies
Forensic analysis
Machine learning
Bio-weapon creation
Improvement of nutritional quality
Development of drought-resistant varieties
Veterinary science
Computational Biology is used, for example, to aid in a virologist’s work on selecting the proper vaccination strain for influenza. Whether analyzing molecular medicine compounds or calculating metabolic pathway proteomics, computational biology allows professionals to build the toolkit to fit the task. Other applications include, but are not limited to:

Stochastic models
Systems biology
Machine learning
Molecular medicine
Preventative medicine
Artificial intelligence
Metabolic pathway studies
Cellular biology
Data mining
Biochemical studies
Radiotherapy
Deep learning
Veterinary studies
Neural networks
Oncology
Animal physiology
Text mining
Advanced mathematics
Genomic trends
Genetic analysis
CareersMost bioinformatics careers are found in computer information science, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical technology, computational biology, proteomics, and medical informatics. Bioinformatics professionals often develop algorithms, build databases, and present data, studies, and research to other bioinformatics professionals. The databases they build are typically used for processing and analyzing genomic information or genetic trends.Most of the computational biology careers on BioSpaceScience Careers, or Indeed involve data mining, data extraction, content curation, research, data analytics, bioinformatics theory, data management, programming, technical writing and documentation, and project management.
SubfieldsThe field of bioinformatics encompasses a wide array of sub-disciplines that are underpinned by a scientific ethic grounded in the biological sciences. Closely related to computational biology, bioinformatics continues to grow in scope and utility. Examples of a few of the many fields informed by the work of bioinformatics include:

Computational biology: the application of solutions to problems in bioinformatics
Genetics: the study of heredity and the variation of inherited characteristics
Genomics: the branch of molecular biology concerned with the structure, function, evolution, and mapping of genomes
Proteomics: the study of proteins and their functions
Metagenomics: the study of genetic matter from environmental sources and samples
Transcriptomics: the study of the complete RNA transcriptome
Phylogenetics: the study of the relationships in groups of animals and humans
Metabolomics: the study of the biochemistry of metabolism and metabolites
Systems biology: the mathematical modeling and analysis of large sets of biodata
Structural analysis: an assessment that determines the effects of physical loads on physical structures
Molecular modeling: the modeling of molecular structures by way of computational chemistry
Pathway analysis: a software assessment that identifies related proteins in metabolic pathways
As an emerging discipline, computational biology is gaining momentum in the medical and tech worlds as an excellent means of quantifying huge data sets. Computational biology is an area in which there is a great deal of overlap with bioinformatics. In fact, the two fields have developed in tandem with one another and often find use in systems where data and data models of biological data are necessary. Some other occupational offshoots include:

Bioinformatics: the process by which biological problems are interpreted and analyzed
Computational bioengineering: various data-based methods used to study biological or ecological systems
Computational biomechanics: various data-based methods used to study the effect of forces on biological structures
Computational bioimaging: the visualization of real-time biological processes
Mathematical biology: the study of biological systems using mathematical models
Theoretical biology: related to the emerging field of mathematical biology
Tools & SoftwareBioinformatics Software and Tools
National Center for Toxicological Research List of Tools for Bioinformatics Research
Wikipedia List of Open-Source Bioinformatics Software
PLOS Computational Biology Software
Nature Computational Biology Tools
Institute for Systems Biology List of Open-Source Computational Biology Software
Featured Academic ProgramsNortheastern Universityonline MSc: Northeastern University offers an online master’s in bioinformatics degree that focuses on subjects such as bioinformatics programming, bioinformatics computational methods, and ethics in biological research. The program also offers a graduate certificate in data science.


Rochester Institute of Technologyon-campus MSc: The Rochester Institute of Technology offers an on-campus master’s in bioinformatics degree that focuses on ethics in bioinformatics, bioinformatics algorithms, database management for the sciences, computational statistics, and data science methods, and molecular modeling and proteomics.


Rochester Institute of Technologyon-campus BSc: The school also offers an innovative bachelor of science program in bioinformatics and computational biology. This program includes courses such as bioinformatics programming, ethical issues in biology and medicine, fundamental bioinformatics analysis, biochemistry, introduction to database and data modeling, and introduction to bioinformatics.


Courserabioinformatics courses: This comprehensive collection of courses from leading universities in bioinformatics offers introductory, intermediate, and advanced-level studies.


Additionally, there are several graduate certificates available, including those from:
Harvard University Extension School
UNC Charlotte
Columbia University in the City of New Yorkonline MSc: Columbia University offers an online computer science master’s degree in computational biology that focuses on subjects such as computational genomics, database systems, advanced machine learning, deep learning for computer vision, and natural language processing, and statistical modeling and data analysis.


The University of Idahoon-campus MSc: The University of Idaho offers an on-campus master’s degree in computational biology that focuses on subjects such as laboratory experience in the biological sciences, laboratory experience in the computational sciences, laboratory experience in mathematics or statistics, evolutionary biology for non-life scientists, and computational biology.


Carnegie Mellon Universityon-campus BSc:Renowned research university Carnegie Mellon offers an esteemed undergraduate program in computational biology. This program includes courses such as algorithms and advanced data structures, algorithm design and analysis, great ideas in theoretical computer science, principles of imperative computation, cell biology, biochemistry, and modern biology.


Courseracomputational biology courses: As perhaps the industry leader in open education models, Coursera’s comprehensive collection of courses from leading universities in computational biology offers introductory, intermediate, and advanced-level studies.


Additionally, there are several related graduate certificates available, including those from:
Auburn University
Arizona State University

The Bottom Line: The Fields of Bioinformatics & Computational Biology

As industries poised to forever change the way the world does ethical, responsible, sensible business, bioinformatics, and computational biology use the last century of research in biology to reforge the discipline for the needs of the coming century.

Taking cues from the world’s organisms to build a healthier and cleaner future and making use of the staggering number of applications in the modern tech landscape, one can rest assured that as science’s collective knowledge grows (and as the very definition of biology evolves), the usefulness of biotechnologies will become unquestionable.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports an uptick in the percentage of bioinformatics and computational biology positions in the wider economy, such as in the occupations of computer and information research scientistsbioinformatics technicians, and biomedical engineers.

Farheen Gani

Farheen Gani

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Farheen Gani has immense knowledge about medical technology schools, having researched topics such as medical billing and coding, health information management, nursing informatics, and biotechnology degree programs since 2018. She is a freelance writer, marketer, and researcher. She writes about healthcare, technology, education, and marketing. Her work has appeared on websites such as Tech in Asia and Foundr, as well as top SaaS blogs such as Zapier and InVision. You can connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter (@FarheenGani).

Kenneth Parker

Kenneth Parker

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Kenneth Parker is a feature writer, poet, and musician living in the Pacific Northwest. His writing on remote work, education, and technology has been published by BustedCubicle.com, MedicalTechnologySchools.com, and other websites. His poetry, short fiction, and album reviews have appeared in Scifaikuest, Nanoism, and No Clean Singing. His background includes time spent as an associate editor, proofreader, private grammar instructor, freelance content editor, medical claims agent, and SEO consultant. He is a graduate of the University of Oregon, where he studied literature and worked as a composition tutor.