Statistical methods in bioinformatics

Advances in computers and biotechnology have had an immense impact on the biomedical fields, with broad consequences for humanity. Correspondingly, new areas of probability and statistics are being developed specifically to meet the needs of this area. There is now a necessity for a text that introduces probability and statistics in the bioinformatics context. This book also describes some of the main statistical applications in the field, including BLAST, gene finding, and evolutionary inference, much of which has not yet been summarized in an introductory textbook format. This book grew out of a need to teach bioinformatics to graduate students at the University of Pennsylvania. At the same time however, it is organized to appeal to a wider audience. In particular it should appeal to any biologist or computer scientist who wants to know more about the statistical methods of the field, as well as to a trained statistician who wishes to become involved in bioinformatics.