Advances in bioinformatics: Integration of biomolecular simulations and virtual reality for revolutionizing disease...

Virtual reality and biomolecular simulations currently lie at the leading edge in dissecting the molecular pathways underlying the disease. This chapter will discuss how the integrations of various technologies will extend knowledge about complex biological processes and their contribution to disease pathophysiology. Advances in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations currently make it possible to record the behavior of proteins and other biomolecules with accurate temporal resolution and full atom detail. Such simulations include information on critical structural changes related to diseases, interactions with possible medication, and functionality of proteins. With recently improved speed, accuracy, and accessibility, MD. has become a basic research and drug development tool. From the researcher's point of view, virtual reality has revolutionized how one can conceptualize and interact with molecular structures. Virtual reality (VR) is a method that uses the three-dimensional presentation of biomolecules as manipulable virtual objects for intuitive insight into molecular interactions and structural connections. In this way, virtual technology can be very helpful in investigating complex chemical systems and creating new theories. It facilitates the Cloud-based co-creation of environments in cloud systems for molecular modeling. The same technologies allow real-time research collaboration by sharing and changing virtual molecules. These cooperative situations reward the generation of new ideas and information, which might provide novel discoveries that more direct approaches could not realize. This chapter will discuss the range of computational methods applied to elucidate molecular recognition mechanisms and will cover improved sampling methods and in silico screening. It will also describe how such techniques may be applied to investigate viral proteins and help develop vaccines and drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The combination of the predictive power of MD. Simulations with intuitive visualization capabilities from VR would allow researchers to achieve an unprecedented understanding of the molecular origin of many diseases. This should inspire innovation in therapeutic intervention and accelerate discovery in molecular biology.