AI and Bioinformatics

This article is an editorial introduction to the research discipline of bioinformatics and to the articles in this special issue. In particular, we address the issue of how techniques from AI can be applied to many of the open and complex problems of modern-day molecular biology. Undoubtedly, bioinformatics is a truly interdisciplinary field: Although some researchers continuously affect wet labs in life science through collaborations or provision of tools, others are rooted in the theory departments of exact sciences (physics, chemistry, or engineering) or computer sciences. This wide variety creates many different perspectives and terminologies. One result of this Babel of languages is that there is no single definition for what the subject of this young field really is.