Data integration in microbial genomics ... - Jacobs University
Data integration in microbial genomics ... - Jacobs University
Data integration in microbial genomics ... - Jacobs University
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CHAPTER 8<br />
CONCLUSION AND<br />
OUTLOOK<br />
“Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge:<br />
it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so<br />
positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by<br />
science.” (Charles Darw<strong>in</strong>, The Descent of Man, 1871)<br />
8.1 Life Sciences: The transition to a data-driven<br />
field of science<br />
As it was discussed, it is an <strong>in</strong>disputable fact that scientists <strong>in</strong> all discipl<strong>in</strong>es<br />
of life sciences are fac<strong>in</strong>g an unprecedented data accumulation.<br />
Hence, the field is <strong>in</strong> a transition phase to a data-driven field of science.<br />
Other fields of science like physics or astronomy have long s<strong>in</strong>ce<br />
undergone this transition. The challenges <strong>in</strong> these fields of science<br />
were mastered by the application of efficient data process<strong>in</strong>g strategies<br />
and by apply<strong>in</strong>g state-of-the-art computer science methods and<br />
technologies. In order to ga<strong>in</strong> knowledge, it is <strong>in</strong>evitable to also apply<br />
these strategies to the ever-<strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g amount of sequence data <strong>in</strong> life<br />
science.<br />
In this thesis several strategies <strong>in</strong> this direction have been pursued.<br />
• Early contextual data acquisition and <strong><strong>in</strong>tegration</strong>: It is<br />
necessary to preserve the context of the sequence data early on<br />
and to <strong>in</strong>tegrate contextual and sequence data as soon as possible<br />
to reduce manual <strong>in</strong>put to a m<strong>in</strong>imum and to enhance opportu-