The next frontier for bio- and cheminformatics visualization

Life science research is increasingly reliant on computation, as affirmed by the recent mapping of the human genome and the analysis questions it poses. Our task is to make sense of these genetic blueprints to develop treatments and therapies for disease. This market is huge, as is the commitment by pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and the investment community. The stage is set for scientific discovery and technology advances, the stakes are high, and researchers have many analysis alternatives. The question is whether visualization can be a player in this market and whether it's up to the challenges. This is the question we attempted to answer as panelists at the Visualization 2001 conference. As a group of researchers and practitioners in this burgeoning field, we have noticed three broad problem-solving themes: the visual integration of analyses; high-dimensional analytic visualization; and the emergence of new visualization designs to solve problems. It is clear that advances in information visualization will be integral to bio- and cheminformatics.