Within this distinction, Theoretical Biology is mostly associated with fundamental research. This opposition is not correct, however. One can even question the value of applied research that is not fundamental. Biological science is highly relevant for all kinds on societal problems, like environmental pollution, health care, agriculture, fisheries and industrial innovation. These problems all require a quantitative treatment.
Biology thus has to evolve from a qualitative science into a quantitative one.
In addition to mathematical skills, the art of modelling requires methodological skills, to judge consistency and compromise between partly conflicting modelling criteria, such as simplism, realism and generalism. The application of mathematics in biology is rapidly gaining ground. To date, most scientific journals require a sound statistical evaluation of experimental results. The use of models to evaluate different scenarios is rapidly expanding. Governmental institutions are therefore moving into the direction of developing models for management purposes.