Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!uunet!ig!daemon From: daemon@ig.UUCP Newsgroups: bionet.molbio.news Subject: CSLG|COMMENTARY: From Alex Reisner Message-ID: <4310@ig.ig.com> Date: Fri, 4-Dec-87 22:39:14 EST Article-I.D.: ig.4310 Posted: Fri Dec 4 22:39:14 1987 Date-Received: Thu, 10-Dec-87 01:50:55 EST Sender: daemon@presto.ig.com Lines: 39 From: Sunil Maulik4-Dec-87 12:33:43-PST,9076;000000000001 Return-Path: <@WISCVM.WISC.EDU:A.F.W.Coulson@EDINBURGH.AC.UK> Received: from WISCVM.WISC.EDU by BIONET-20.ARPA with TCP; Fri 4 Dec 87 12:33:28-PST Received: from UKACRL.BITNET by WISCVM.WISC.EDU ; Fri, 04 Dec 87 14:34:41 CDT Received: from RL.IB by UKACRL.BITNET (Mailer X1.25) with BSMTP id 1126; Fri, 04 Dec 87 20:27:53 GMT Via: UK.AC.RL.EARN; Fri, 04 Dec 87 20:27:52 GMT Received: Via: 000015001006.FTP.MAIL; 4 DEC 87 20:27:44 GMT Date: 04 Dec 87 20:28:06 gmt From: A.F.W.Coulson@EDINBURGH.AC.UK Subject: CSLG Discussion or Conference To: MAULIK%arpa.bionet-20%RL.earn Message-ID: <04 Dec 87 20:28:06 gmt 100798@EMAS-A> Searching large databases for sequence similarities. Will the growth in sequence data overwhelm our ability to deal with it computationally? One can always write a science fiction scenario in which it does (suppose those Japanese robot factories get up to 107 bp/day? You can manage that? Then how about if they get up to 108?....) but I really think it is counterproductive to do so. At present the sequence databases are still quite modest in size in computing terms, and they are providing lots of us with a rich new field for research. Even with the machines we have now, there wouldn't really be any problem until the databases are ten times their present size. As long as one can formulate what one wants to do in reasonably concrete terms, I'm pretty sure that both computer science and the granting agencies will have no great difficulty in continuing to provide us with what we need in software tools and hardware respectively. It's primarily an engineering problem (though there is also useful and interesting research to be done), and all it will take to solve is money. Nothing I've seen so far suggests that the total will be more than a substantial fraction of what the data acquisition will cost. -------