Computational
Biology Research Center, AIST, JapanIn the long term my research is aimed at deciphering the genetic information in genome sequences, using computational methods. I have especially studied DNA promoter regions that control gene expression, but I have also, for example, searched for short proteins encoded in genomes. Recently I have worked on the most fundamental bioinformatic technique: pairwise sequence comparison. The classic tools have surprisingly severe limitations, and we have developed methods to reliably and rapidly compare modern giga-scale datasets. My original training was in physics and philosophy (Oxford) and mathematics (Cambridge). I received a Ph.D. in bioinformatics at Boston University (USA). After that I took up a postdoctoral position jointly at the University of Queensland (Australia) and the RIKEN Yokohama Institute (Japan), where I participated in the FANTOM project to elucidate mammalian transcriptomes. Finally I joined the staff at CBRC, AIST, Tokyo.
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