I.IntroductionWhen future generations reflect on this current era in human history and development, it is almost certain that the birth and advancement of bioinformatics will be among the most impressive. Bioinformatics is the field of study that concerns the storage, retrieval and analysis of biological data via computational tools. The two major goals of bioinformatics (as identified by -new avenues-p9) are the identification of genes and the prediction of their function. Bioinformatics therefore shares an intimate relationship with the field of functional genomics, which is defined by Alberts as "the field of study that aims to understand the way in which cells execute and control the large number of operations necessary for their normal functioning , and those in which cellular systems fail in disease” (1996). In order to produce results offering a better understanding of biological systems, it is necessary to establish a link between the genomic scale and the scale of the biological system in question. This requires computational and formal methods to process massive amounts of data, understand the general principles that govern the system, and make predictions about the system's behavior (Scmulevich, Dougherty, & Zhang, 2002). As the size and complexity of data to be implemented telescopedly increases (due to advances in areas such as gene expression, mass spectrometry, and protein-protein interactions), the need for basic of massive, comprehensive data with seamless global access (considered “knowledge bases” by Manuela Pruess (p43, New Avenues.)) has become apparent. What differentiates these proposed new knowledge bases from other types of databases is the power that comes from cross-referencing data from all researchers...... middle of article ......f Non-governmental organizations are possible. These include the success of Greenpeace in forcing Shell Oil to change its position in the Brent Spare and the North Sea in relation to Nigeria and the success of human rights groups in forcing the government of Mexico to protect the Indians of Chiapas, the social pressure exerted to interrupt the production of the genetically modified "new leaf" potato and the success of human rights groups in changing Nike's position on the use of child labor. While these examples have proven that NGOs are capable and viable resources for changing public policy for large corporations and governments, relying solely on NGOs to regulate the advancement of the biotechnology industry poses a problem. fundamental in that they lack the legitimacy to create organizations that monitor the progress of the biotechnology industry. and implement the policies they help create.