biology

Temple F. Smith

Temple F. Smith is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Temple F. Smith rather than just read about it. In short: Temple Ferris Smith (born March 7, 1939) is an emeritus professor in biomedical engineering who developed the Smith-Waterman algorithm with Michael Waterman in 1981. The Smith-Waterman algorithm serves as the basis for multi sequence comparisons, identifying the segment with the maximum local sequence similarity, see sequence alignment.

Key takeaways

Temple F. Smith belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Temple F. Smith to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Temple F. Smith from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Temple Ferris Smith (born March 7, 1939) is an emeritus professor in biomedical engineering who developed the Smith-Waterman algorithm with Michael Waterman in 1981. The Smith-Waterman algorithm serves as the basis for multi sequence comparisons, identifying the segment with the maximum local sequence similarity, see sequence alignment. This algorithm is used for identifying similar DNA, RNA and protein segments. He was director of the BioMolecular Engineering Research Center at Boston University for twenty years and is now professor emeritus.

Education Smith obtained his bachelor's degree in 1963 from the Physics Department, Purdue University, followed by a PhD in 1969 in the Physics Department, University of Colorado at Boulder.

Research and career After his PhD, Smith did postdoctoral research from March 1969 to August 1971 in the Department of Biophysics and Genetics, University of Colorado Medical School, Boulder. His research is centered on the application of various computer science and mathematical methods for the discovery of the syntactic and semantic patterns in nucleic acid and amino acid sequences. In recent years this has focus on molecular evolution of protein families. such as the WD-repeat beta propellers, translation associated GTPase, and the ribosomal proteins. He is known for the creation of the Smith-Waterman algorithm. Smith has held the following appointments:

1965–1966: Instructor, US Air Force Lowery, Denver, CO 1971–1984: Professor, Department of Physics, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI 1985–1991: Director, Molecular Biology Computer Research Resource, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health 1991–2009: Director, BioMolecular Engineering Resource Center, Boston University 1999– : Co-organizer, 1999 Institute for the Academic Advancement of Youth Discovering Biotechnology Day 2000– : Co-Founder and Chief Information Officer, Modular Genetics, Inc. 2000– : Youth Hockey Coach

Selected publications

Awards and honors Smith was awarded the ISCB Senior Scientist Award and elected ISCB Fellow in 2009 by the International Society for Computational Biology. Im 2002, he was inducted into American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) “for extraordinary contributions in defining and advancing the field of bioinformatics, with emphasis on novel engineering methods to predict protein structure and function”.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Temple F. Smith

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Temple F. Smith claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Temple F. Smith before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Temple F. Smith ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Temple F. Smith

In research: Temple F. Smith appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Temple F. Smith in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Temple F. Smith is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1939 births, American bioinformaticians, Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Temple F. Smith outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Temple F. Smith” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Temple F. Smith in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Temple F. Smith means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Temple F. Smith out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Temple F. Smith in simple terms?

Why does Temple F. Smith matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Temple F. Smith?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Temple F. Smith.