in silico

American  

[in sil-i-koh] / ɪn ˈsɪl ɪˌkoʊ /

adverb

1. (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.

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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

See Examples For:

in silico

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

From Science Daily ● Dec. 3, 2025

“It tells you that, basically, something like optimizing for predictive representation may be the shared objective for both biological systems and these in silico models,” Fedorenko says.

From Scientific American ● Oct. 26, 2021

Toxicology is even starting to test potential hazards in silico, using computers to compare how the one chemical under investigation compares to others that have been studied.

From Slate ● May 17, 2018

We first predicted potential shRNA targets in silico using the following website: http://projects.insilico.us/SpliceCenter/siRNACheck.

From Nature ● Oct. 10, 2017

GSK is getting behind the idea and has recently set up a discovery performance unit focused on enhancing drug discovery through the use of "in silico" technology - including AI, machine learning and deep learning.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2017