Why universities and institutions must prioritise the science that gives meaning to modern biology
A single human genome contains about three billion letters of genetic code. Today, a modern sequencing machine can read it in a matter of hours. But the machine only produces raw data, and someone must still make sense of it. That someone is increasingly a bioinformatician.Biology has changed. A century ago, a biologist’s main tools were the microscope and the test tube. Today, a single experiment can generate terabytes of data, more than any human could read in a lifetime. Wet lab experiments remain the foundation of biological science, but without computational analysis, much of what they produce stays unreadable. It is time our universities, colleges and research institutions gave bioinformatics the place it deserves.
What is bioinformatics? Bioinformatics is the field that combines biology, computer science, mathematics and statistics to understand living systems. It is often described as the “dry lab” counterpart to the wet lab, where the work is done with algorithms, databases and software rather than pipettes and petri dishes. The two are partners, not rivals. The wet lab generates data from living material. Bioinformatics stores, analyses, interprets and evaluates that data, and often points researchers to the next experiment worth doing. Neither is complete without the other.
The Four Pillars| Storing, Analysing, Interpreting, Evaluating
Storing: Biological data is growing at an extraordinary pace. Global repositories now hold millions of DNA, RNA and protein sequences, protein structures and clinical datasets. Bioinformatics builds and maintains the databases that organise this information so scientists anywhere in the world can access it, and so that hard-won data is not lost or duplicated.
Analysing : Raw sequencing output is a jumble of billions of short fragments. Bioinformatics tools assemble them, compare them across individuals or species, and identify genes, mutations and patterns that no one could find by hand.
Interpreting: Finding a genetic variant is one thing. Understanding whether it causes disease, alters a protein or explains a trait is another. Bioinformatics places findings in context, linking genes to pathways, pathways to functions and functions to outcomes.
Evaluating: Good science requires checking results. Statistical methods, quality control and computational validation help separate genuine discoveries from noise, error and chance. In an age of big data, this safeguard is essential.
Importance For Society: The benefits of bioinformatics reach ordinary lives more often than most people realise. When COVID-19 emerged, the virus’s genome was decoded and shared with the world within weeks. That information guided the design of diagnostic tests and vaccines. Genomic surveillance tracked new variants as they spread, helping health authorities respond. Beyond pandemics, bioinformatics supports food security through improved crops, protects biodiversity through genetic monitoring, and helps forensic science, water quality assessment and environmental protection. For a region like Kashmir, with its rich Himalayan biodiversity and its saffron, apple and walnut economies, computational biology can help characterise local genetic resources, improve crop resilience and support sustainable livelihoods.
Importance For Academics: Students today are entering a world where biology and data are inseparable. A graduate who understands both is far more employable and more adaptable than one trained in only one of them. Yet many of our biology curricula still treat computational skills as an optional extra. Institutions should consider introducing bioinformatics as a core subject, teaching programming basics such as Python and R, statistics, database use and genomic data analysis. Just as important is training teachers, since a curriculum is only as strong as those who deliver it. Interdisciplinary collaboration between departments of life sciences, computer science, mathematics and statistics should be encouraged, not left to chance.
“The wet lab remains essential to experimental biology, but data and bioinformatics have become its modern language. To keep Kashmir’s talented students competitive, advance its research, and protect its unique heritage, investing in bioinformatics is necessary for better health and future-ready science.”
Importance For Medicine: Medicine is moving toward a more personal approach, and bioinformatics is at its centre. By analysing a patient’s genetic profile, doctors can better understand disease risk, choose more suitable drugs and avoid harmful side effects, an approach known as precision or personalised medicine. In cancer care, tumour genome analysis helps identify the mutations driving a disease and guides targeted therapy. In rare and inherited disorders, computational analysis can end years of diagnostic uncertainty for families. In drug discovery, computer-based modelling of proteins and molecules helps researchers screen candidates before a single expensive laboratory test is run, saving both time and resources. For a region where inherited disorders and lifestyle diseases pose real public health challenges, building local expertise in genomic data analysis is not a luxury. It is a necessity.
Importance For Research And Development: Modern research increasingly depends on computation. Genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and systems biology all generate large datasets that only bioinformatics can handle. Artificial intelligence has already shown its power: computational methods can now predict the three-dimensional structures of proteins with remarkable accuracy, a problem that challenged scientists for decades. For research institutions, investing in bioinformatics offers a strong return. It reduces the cost and time of experiments by guiding them more precisely. It makes published data reusable. And it opens doors to collaboration, funding and innovation in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and beyond. Nations and regions that build computational capacity now will lead the next wave of biological discovery. Those that do not risk depending on others for their science.
The Way Forward: Several steps deserve serious consideration:
• Curriculum Reform: introduce bioinformatics courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in universities and colleges.
• Infrastructure: establish computing facilities and high-speed data access in research institutions.
• Training: organise workshops and faculty development programmes to build teaching capacity.
• Collaboration: encourage joint projects between biologists, computer scientists and clinicians.
• Awareness: communicate to students, parents and policymakers that this field offers strong career prospects in research, healthcare and industry.
A Call To Action: The wet lab will always be the heart of experimental biology. But the language in which modern biology speaks is increasingly that of data, and bioinformatics is how we learn to read it. Ignoring this reality would leave our students underprepared and our research less competitive. Kashmir has talented young minds, a unique natural heritage and a growing scientific community. What it needs now is the vision to equip them with the tools of modern biology. Investing in bioinformatics is an investment in better health, stronger research and a more capable generation.
(The author is a bioinformatics researcher at Kashmir University. The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”)
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