Biology: From Qualitative to Quantitative Science

Modern biology involves integrating quantitative techniques from physics, engineering and chemistry along with computational approaches from statistics and computer science. Prof Timothy Saunders explains how he utilises these quantitative and analytical approaches in his laboratory – along with the humble fruit fly – to gain insights on how organisms develop from a single fertilised cell to a functioning adult.

Prof Timothy Saunders

Computational Biology Programme

Prof Saunders received his Bachelor and Master degrees in Physics from Cambridge University and his D. Phil. in Theoretical Physics from the University of Oxford. As a postdoctoral researcher, he moved into applying computational and physics approaches to biology, with positions in the United Kingdom and Germany. He started his laboratory in NUS’ Mechanobiology Institute in 2013. He is also a Faculty member of NUS’ Department of Biological Sciences. Prof Saunders was recently awarded an EMBO Global Investigator award for his work.