Systems and Computational Biology as Career Choices for Math Majors

December 17, 2007

The quest to better understand the human genome requires mathematical models that help measure and predict how organisms respond to genetic, behavioral, and medical manipulation. This, in turn, necessitates collaboration among a range of scientists: physicists, engineers, computer scientists, chemists, physiologists — and mathematicians.

Specialties have arisen, notably systems biology, which focuses on the control systems of cells, and computational biology, which models these systems. Students majoring in biology who already have solid backgrounds in mathematics, physics, or computer programming are attractive hires in academia and industry. Math students with an interest in biology also have intriguing career opportunities.

Biological data garnered through advances in imaging and analysis have led to the relatively new field of computational biology. "the models have become so complicated that you have to do computations," biologist John Tyson of Virginia Tech told New Scientist. Computational biologists help to create models that predict the behavior of complex biological systems in space and time. Researchers hope such computational modeling will help in the design of safer, more effective drugs as well as individualized treatments of disease.

Tyson's students often land jobs in biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industries. Being funded by, or working for, the federal government is also a possibility. "A couple of years ago, the NIH created a new study section called 'Modeling and analysis of biological systems,' so now we have a home at NIH," Tyson said.

Biology majors lacking a strong math background are being encouraged to take a second major, in either computer science or mathematics. Aimee Dudley, an assistant professor at the Institute for Systems Biology, recommends that her biology students take courses in statistics, computer science and programming, population genetics, and engineering. "The next generation of biologists is going to need these skills," she said. "We'll no longer have people who study biology because they don't like math."

Dudley's organization focuses on biological systems rather than on individual cells, genes, or proteins. Biologists, mathematicians, computer scientists, and physicists work collaboratively at the institute "The institute is extremely interdisciplinary," she said.

The challenge of systems biology is to translate cellular knowledge into something that allows scientists to predict disease and response to medication. With the $1,000 genome a possibility — that would put it in the range of affordable medical testing — researchers need to develop computational and experimental tools to take advantage of genome analysis. After all, "the prize," Dudley pointed out, "is improving human health."

Source: New Scientist, Nov. 21, 2007.