Signal processing in bioinformatics

The ongoing reunification of the several biological areas - especially genetics, evolution, development and ecology - into a coherent whole is expected to rely increasingly on the application of mathematic-computational concepts and techniques, which characterizes the new area of bioinformatics. The article addresses such a tendency from the specific perspective of signal/image processing and analysis, outlining the main problems of interest and their specific demands. Among the several related approaches, special attention is focused on DNA chip image analysis, 3D gene expression characterization, the dynamical evolution of biological shapes, and dynamic systems models.