Recently molecular biology has undergone unprecedented developmentgenerating vast quantities of data needing sophisticatedcomputational methods for analysis, processing and archiving. Thisrequirement has given birth to the truly interdisciplinary field ofcomputational biology, or bioinformatics, a subject reliant on boththeoretical and practical contributions from statistics,mathematics, computer science and biology. * Provides the background mathematics required to understand whycertain algorithms work * Guides the reader through probability theory, entropy andcombinatorial optimization * In-depth coverage of molecular biology and protein structureprediction * Includes several less familiar algorithms such as DNAsegmentation, quartet puzzling and DNA strand separationprediction * Includes class tested exercises useful for self-study * Source code of programs available on a Web site Primarily aimed at advanced undergraduate and graduate studentsfrom bioinformatics, computer science, statistics, mathematics andthe biological sciences, this text will also interest researchersfrom these fields.