[drosophila]

Right now experimentalists generate data and then try to find computer people to analyse their data. However, in the not too distant future computer models will drive experimental research as hypothesis generation tools. Then the computer people will be seeking biology people ( or robots) to run experiments to validate their hypothesis and there will be more respect for the field.

[ChristianMarks]

This seems to presume that scientific programming is merely a service to the important and more deserving persons who generate scientific hypotheses, from whom it can be decoupled and isolated, instead of being the collaborative effort that it is--if elevating the professional standing of scientific programmers must wait for the widespread adoption of automated hypothesis generation software. For example, the computation of ecosystem service indicators--what you might call the interface between biogeophysical models of Earth systems and economic and policy modeling--is an interdisciplinary and collaborative activity that relies heavily on computational technique and technology.