The Fourth symposium entitled Supercomputer “K Computer” and Life Science, hosted by Okayama University and organized jointly with RIKEN, was held in Okayama University’s 50th Anniversary Hall on June 12, 2015.

Greetings and opening comments were given by Executive Director and Vice President for Research Shin-ichi Yamamoto and the organizer of the symposium Vice President Masaharu Seno (in charge of the International & Multidisciplinary Graduate Programs). Under the theme of the fourth symposium, “Promotion of Fusion and Exchange in Different Life Science Research Fields,” lectures were given by six internal and external researchers who are active in life science research utilizing computing science.

The lectures covered a wide range of research topics such as the development of exclusive computer hardware specially designed for molecular dynamic calculation and computational algorithms for life science research, the construction of theoretical models and computer simulations for cancer progression using mathematical science, and the analysis of the molecular evolution of bacterial enzymes by phylogenetic tree analysis and molecular dynamic simulation.

Research currently at the cutting-edge of science, such as the evaluation of drug candidates by high-precision binding free energy calculation, interaction analyses of protein-ligand complexes by quantum chemical calculations, and the analysis of the huge amounts of genome data from next-generation DNA sequencers, were introduced as examples of the latest application research using the K Computer, Japan’s world-renowned high-performance supercomputer.

Under the title “The Future Path of Life Science Research Explored by Supercomputers,” the panel discussion considered the prospects for the development of life science research through the use of supercomputers. While deepening the discussion on various aspects of scientific research, the expert panel of professors also focused on the importance of education for the human resources who will support these future developments.

Over 200 participants from both inside and outside Okayama University attended the symposium, which also sparked lively discussion from the floor during question and answer sessions of the lectures.

For more details on the symposium, please navigate to:
http://www.cyber.biotech.okayama-u.ac.jp/Ksympo/index.html

Contact information
SENO Masaharu, Professor
Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology (Engineering)
mseno(a)cc.okayama-u.ac.jp
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