Dr. Clutter noted that research opportunities in biology are receiving more recognition in Washington. An increasingly key component in biological research is the computer, Dr. Clutter said. She said sequence-based biology combined with database mining will revolutionize the biological sciences. Technology and informatics will transform all aspects of research and education, Dr. Clutter noted. She said information available in interrelational and interoperable databases will provide shortcuts to answers to important biological questions.
Electronic communication allows collaborations unlimited by miles or continents.
Collaboratories or networks of scientists will be commonplace, she said. Two months in the lab can easily save an afternoon on the computer, Dr. Clutter quoted Alan Bleasby as saying. In discussing the need to reshape the education of scientists and engineers, Dr. Clutter noted the findings of the Committee on Science Engineering and Policy which said that a world of work that has become more interdisciplinary, collaborative, and global requires that we produce young people who are adaptable and flexible, as well as technically proficient. However, an NSF workshop on graduate education and postdoctoral training found that the skills and knowledge acquired by new Ph.D s are too narrowly focused, and are not adequately applicable to the diverse business and industry environments in which most Ph.D. scientists actually work. Dr. Clutter said that the classical method of undergraduate biology education is adequate, but no longer sufficient.