that life itself is an information
technology; an organism’s physiology
is largely determined by its genes, which
at its most basic can be viewed as
digital information. At the same time,
there have been major advances in the
technologies that supply the initial data;
Anthony Kerlavage of Celera recently
cited that an experimental laboratory
can produce over 100 gigabytes of
data a day with ease [5]. This incredible
processing power has been matched
by developments in computer technology;
the most important areas ofimprovements have been in the CPU,
disk storage and Internet, allowing
faster computations, better data storage
and revolutionalised the methods
for accessing and exchanging data