Research Article

Metaheuristic Optimization in Biological Sciences: A Narrative Critical Review of Bioinformatics, Ecology, and Systems Biology

Authors

Marzieh Lamtar-Gholipoor * Department of Chemical Engineering, Quchan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Quchan, Iran.
Haruna Mavakumba Kefas Department of Chemical Engineering, Modibbo Adama University, Adamawa State, Nigeria.
Khris Benjamin Swain Centre for Computational Chemistry, School of Engineering & Applied Science, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

https://doi.org/10.22105/scfa.v3i3.108

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Abstract

Biological optimization tasks require search procedures that match their representation, objectives and constraints. This narrative critical review connects sequence alignment, protein modeling, gene-expression feature selection, phylogenetic inference, conservation planning and systems biology through those methodological requirements. It distinguishes search quality from biological validity and identifies the evidence needed for fair comparisons. Documented examples include genetic alignment, Lamarckian docking, likelihood-based tree inference, spatial conservation scoring and cooperative network-model inference. The numerical performance and bibliometric compilations lack traceable source mappings and common evaluation records, so they are excluded from the validated synthesis. No systematic-review population, pooled hybrid advantage or universal algorithm ranking is established. The review develops a research agenda centered on identifiability, independent biological validation, matched computational budgets and transparent data and code.

Keywords

Metaheuristics Computational biology Bioinformatics Conservation planning Systems biology Validation Reproducibility

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Published 2026-09-15
Issue Vol. 3 No. 3 (2026): Soft Computing Fusion with Applications
Section Articles
Document Type Research Article
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How to Cite

Lamtar-Gholipoor, M. ., Mavakumba Kefas, H. ., & Benjamin Swain, K. . (2026). Metaheuristic Optimization in Biological Sciences: A Narrative Critical Review of Bioinformatics, Ecology, and Systems Biology. Soft Computing Fusion With Applications , 3(3), 164-179. https://doi.org/10.22105/scfa.v3i3.108

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