This volume contains about 40 papers covering many of the latest developments in the fast-growing field of bioinformatics. The contributions span a wide range of topics, including computational genomics and genetics, protein function and computational proteomics, the transcriptome, structural bioinformatics, microarray data analysis, motif identification, biological pathways and systems, and biomedical applications. There are also abstracts from the keynote addresses and invited talks. The papers cover not only theoretical aspects of bioinformatics but also delve into the application of new methods, with input from computation, engineering and biology disciplines. This multidisciplinary approach to bioinformatics gives these proceedings a unique viewpoint of the field. Sample Chapter(s). Chapter 1: Exploring the Ocean''s Microbes: Sequencing the Seven Seas (122 KB). Contents: Exploring the Ocean''s Microbes: Sequencing the Seven Seas (M E Frazier et al.); Protein Network Comparative Genomics (T Ideker); Bioinformatics at Microsoft Research (S Mercer); Protein Fold Recognition Using Gradient Boost Algorithm (F Jiao et al.); Efficient Annotation of Non-Coding RNA Structures Including Pseudoknots via Automated Filters (C Liu et al.); Efficient Generalized Matrix Approximations for Biomarker Discovery and Visualization in Gene Expression Data (W Li et al.); Sorting Genomes by Translocations and Deletions (X Qi et al.); Detection of Cleavage Sites for HIV-1 Protease in Native Proteins (L You); Identifying Biological Pathways via Phase Decomposition and Profile Extraction (Y Zhang & Z Deng); Complexity and Scoring Function of MS/MS Peptide De Novo Sequencing (C Xu & B Ma); Simulating In Vitro Epithelial Morphogenesis in Multiple Environments (M R Grant et al.); and other papers. Readership: Research and application community in bioinformatics, systems biology, medicine, pharmacology and biotechnology. A useful reference for graduate researchers in bioinformatics and computational biology.