Though a relatively young discipline, bioinformatics is fi nding
increasing importance in many life science disciplines, including
biology, biochemistry, medicine, and chemistry. Since its
beginnings in the late 1980s, the success of bioinformatics has
been associated with rapid developments in computer science,
not least in the relevant hardware and software. In addition,
biotechnological advances such as those witnessed in the fi elds
of genome sequencing, microarrays and proteomics have contributed
enormously to the bioinformatics boom. Finally, the
simultaneous breakthrough and success of the World-Wide Web
has facilitated the worldwide distribution of and easy access to
bioinformatics tools.