Book excerpt: The Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing (PSB) is an international, multidisciplinary conference for the presentation and discussion of current research in the theory and application of computational methods in problems of biological significance. Papers and presentations are rigorously peer-reviewed and are published in an archival volume that will prove to be a valuable reference for all biochemists and computer scientists.PSB-97 will focus on rapidly advancing areas of research in the field.