Invitation to Study Biosciences and Informatics
- Guide to an untamed territory -
The study of the molecular substance of life and its interpretation using informatics
Four billion years have passed since the first appearance of life on earth. Sixty years have passed since the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA. The human DNA genome was mapped in the 2000s and represented the dawn of a new age in the biological sciences. In this epoch, Keio University established the department of biosciences and informatics in 2002.
We determine which fragments of DNA are translated into certain proteins in each cell, and how a life system emerges from those interacting proteins. Our department’s research activity centers on solving puzzles about life systems through physical description and molecular theoretical interpretation of biology and molecular biology. These solutions are then explained in terms of informatics.
The aim of our department’s curriculum is to train students as a new generation of scientists and engineers in biology and biotechnology who will flourish all over the world. We expect that they will have new viewpoints on the life sciences, which are significantly different from those of traditional biologists. For that purpose, our department offers programs which encourage students to become competent both in experimentation and in the use of computers.
Results from bioscience and informatics research will be applied to contribute to various fields and will create new industries. These applications and industries include; health care, including drug discovery; increases in food production; alternative/renewable energy; environmental cleanup and monitoring methods and other applications in both the chemical and biochemical industries. Graduates from our department will play central roles in such fields and industries.
If you are a high school student who is considering becoming a freshman in our faculty and is interested in our department, why don’t you come and join us!
