Application of Petri Nets to Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics is a rapidly developing discipline that takes advantage of mathematics and computer technology to construct and analyze biological models.Petri nets are efficient tools used in Bioinformatics recently,while their application needs to be further expanded.The survey which this paper provides of the application of Petri nets in Bioinformatics study includes three parts: Using place/transition system to qualitatively analyze structural properties of biological objects;using stochastic Petri nets to add stochastic properties to biological modeling and analysis;using hybrid Petri nets to represent and analyze biological systems with both discrete and continuous properties.Finally,the application of Petri nets in Bioinformatics is summarized and the research directions and open problems in this area are also discussed.