Integrative Systems Biology

The emerging field of systems biology involves studying and modeling complex biosystems in their entirety — from the molecular, cellular, tissue, to systems scales. Collaborative research efforts emphasize the use of quantitative measurement and mathematical and computational modeling for research in the life sciences.

Biologists, physicists, engineers, computer scientists, mathematicians, and chemists combine their talents to model human physiology, to better understand the dynamic molecular architecture of the cell, and to study how cells propagate and cooperate to form organs.

Cell to cell communication, the life cycle, and problems in environmental systems are among the fascinating systems biology studies underway.

Integrative systems biology brings an integrated, systems-based approach gain insight into the function of these complex biosystems. It applies new, experimental and quantitative methods to the study and modeling of complex interacting systems.

The concentration is on the function of the system as a whole, rather than on the individual parts. Mathematical and engineering methods are being adapted to create new ways to study biosystems.

Depending on the system, an interdisciplinary research team might include cell biologists working on intra- and intercellular signaling, biochemists and molecular biologists working on the components of networks, and mathematicians and engineers who construct models.