Computational biology, a branch of biology involving the application of computers and computer science to the understanding and modeling of the structures and processes of life. It entails the use of computational methods (e.g., algorithms) for the representation and simulation of biological systems, as well as for the interpretation of experimental data, often on a very large scale. The beginnings of computational biology essentially date to the origins of computer science. Computational biology and bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field that develops and applies computational methods to analyse large collections of biological data, such as genetic sequences, cell populations or protein samples, to make new predictions or discover new biology. The computational methods used include analytical methods, mathematical modelling and simulation. Computational biology is the science that answers the question “How can we learn and use models of biological systems constructed from experimental measurements?” These models may describe what biological tasks are carried out by particular nucleic acid or peptide sequences, which gene (or genes) when expressed produce a particular phenotype or behavior, what sequence of changes in gene or protein expression or localization lead to a particular disease, and how changes in cell organization influence cell behavior.