The collaboration between the areas of computation and the biological sciences in the last two decades has changed in essential ways the scope and methods of research in their shared field.

In this chapter we describe two fundamental principles: Computational Equivalency; and the Suboptimal Paradigm of Evolution. These principles permeate current research in computation and biology.

We illustrate these principles with three examples: animal behavior; plant behavior; and human interaction. These examples are described formally by means of computational languages.

These descriptions are designed to provide the reader with a concrete framework where these and similar ideas could be studied, tested, and developed. The computational descriptions of these systems are simple and easily accessible to readers. This accessibility makes appropriate the introduction of these ideas in the traditional school curriculum. Our current students are the future custodians of our society. They need novel ideas to respond to the novel challenges of the modern society.

All programs referenced in this chapter are accessible in the links provided in this webpage. In addition, these links include animations of their dynamic processes. URL: https://www.ehu.eus/es/web/gmm/springer-nature