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Ab initio
Ab initio means from the beginning. In medicine, the
term is usually used in science to refer to something
that depends on basic and established laws of nature
without the need to add theories or special
qualifications beyond that. For example, if one tried to
calculate how injured a person was after being struck
by a car, one would begin with the basic (ab initio)
calculation of momentum, which is equal to the mass
multiplied by the velocity.
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After this has been done, other factors can be taken into consideration to determine how
an injury rose to a certain level. In chemistry, there are ab initio quantum chemistry
methods, which are meant to refer to chemistry calculation methods based on quantum
chemistry, which is when quantum mechanics (a way to study physical phenomena) is
applied to chemical experiments.
In biophysicis, the term is used to refer to a way to predict the structure of proteins in
protein folding. In bioinformatics, the term is used to define ways to make predictions
about biological features using only a computational model. Bioinformatics is the
application of computer science and information technology to biology and medicine. Ab
initio comes from the Latin word “ab” meaning “from” and the Latin word “initium” meaning
“entrance or beginning.” Put the words together and you have “from (the) entrance or
beginning”.
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