in silico

American

[in sil-i-koh] / ɪn ˈsɪl ɪˌkoʊ /

adverb

(of a scientific experiment or scientific research) modeled or simulated on a computer, rather than in a living organism, a natural setting, or a controlled experimental environment.

An increasing amount of scientific work is performed in silico, with the entire process, from experiment to publication, performed by computer.
The data was obtained from the results of an in silico analysis of four different treatments.

Etymology

Origin of in silico

First recorded in 1985–90; on the pattern of in vitro ( def. ), with substitution of vitro with silico, based on silicon ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"Our in silico approach offers a promising direction for the development of novel treatments for Alzheimer's disease," said Khedraoui.

From Science Daily

To study this process, researchers used in silico methods, which rely on computer simulations rather than laboratory experiments.

From Science Daily

No other methods, including in silico approaches, can fully replace these studies.

From Science Daily

“We can start testing hypotheses in silico,” Bergeron says.

From Science Magazine

"Here, the experimental work was confirmed by simulation in silico, and our theory work offered new insights into what was happening ex silico," said Glotzer, the Anthony C Lembke Department Chair of Chemical Engineering.

From Science Daily

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023