Computational cell biologists snowed in at Cranwell.

Cell biology is being inundated by an avalanche of data from the genomics and proteomics enterprises. The complexity and sheer volume of information threaten to overwhelm the ability of traditional cell biologists to grasp its implications and develop experimentally testable hypotheses. For this reason, some have begun to explore computational approaches towards organizing complex data into quantitative models. This requires communication and collaboration between the biological science community and and the physical and mathematical sciences communities. A recent meeting [The First International Symposium on Computational Cell Biology, Cranwell Resort, Lenox, MA, USA; 4-6 March 2001. Organizers: J.H. Carson, A. Cowan, and L.M. Loew (www.nrcam.uchc.edu/conference).] made a first attempt to bring these two communities together. Three feet of new snow fell during the meeting, but the 125 attendees, an unusual mixture of cell biologists, computer scientists, mathematicians, physicists, and engineers, were having too much fun defining the new field of computational cell biology to notice that they were literally snowed in.