From msmash at Slashdot:
In the middle of a discussion about the pros and cons of statins, Sir Rory Collins, the head of clinical trials at Oxford University, noted that If you want a career in medicine these days you’re better off studying mathematics or computing than biology. More.
From Tom Feilden at BBC, a key issue is information science and cancer:
So why cancer? The answer can be summed up in two words: big data. What Dr Sottoriva brings to the fight against cancer is the expertise in mathematical modelling needed to mine the vast treasure trove of data the information revolution has brought to medicine.
“The exciting thing is that we can apply all the new analytical techniques we’ve developed in physics to biology,” he says.
“So we have all these new quantitative technologies that allow us to process an enormous amount of data, and all of a sudden we can start to apply that to implement the paradigm of physics in biology.” More.
Of course, always a fly in the ointment, right? There’s also the risk of “datageddon”:
The Professor of Science and Society at Arizona State University, Daniel Sarewitz, warns of “datageddon” – over-enthusiastic researchers risking being set adrift on a sea of irrelevant information.
“If mouse models are like looking for your keys under the streetlamp, big data is like looking for your keys all over the world just because you can,” says Professor Sarewitz.
See also: What to expect from the Royal Society’s public evolution summit November 7-9
Follow UD News at Twitter!