The Role of Mathematics and Computation in Systems and Integrative Biology
Background Materials
Systems biology is primarily concerned with how biological components interact
to produce adaptive behavior at a larger scale of integration [Kitano,
2002]. We interpret systems biology broadly to encompass areas such as
- Intracellular genetic and protein network dynamics during development
- Integration of tissue responses to create dynamic homeostasis at the
organism level
- The emergence of higher cognitive function from neural networks
- The organization of social systems by the movement and interaction of
individual organisms
- The assemblage and control of mechanisms resulting in systemic responses
at cellular, physiological, and organismic levels
- The creation of secondary and tertiary structure (e.g. population
dynamics, tissues, organs, scaling laws) from primary mechanisms
(e.g. genetic networks, individual energetics, distributed flow dynamics)
Systems biology, as we interpret it, is loosely related to scale (larger than
chromosomal and smaller than ecological).
Reports from Similar Workshops
Quantitative Environmental and
Integrative Biology Workshop, hosted at San Diego Supercomputer
Center, University of California at San Diego, 2002
Evolution
and Development meets Tree of Life, hosted at the National Science
Foundation, Arlington, Virginia, 2001
Some Articles
Oltvai, Z.N. and Barabasi, A-L, 2002.
Life's Complexity Pyramid, Science 298: 763-764
Chong, L. and L.B. Ray, 2002.
Whole-istic Biology, Science 295: 1661.
Kitano, H., 2002. Systems Biology: A Brief Overview, Science 295: 1662-1664
Csete, M.E. and J.C. Doyle, 2002. Reverse Engineering of Biological Complexity, Science 295: 1664-1669
Davidson, E.H. et al., 2002. A Genomic Regulatory Network for Development, Science 295: 1669-1678
Noble, D. Modeling the Heart - from Genes to Cells to the Whole Organ, Science 295: 1678-1682
Wiley, H.S., S.Y. Shvartsman and D.A. Lauffenburger, 2003. Computational modeling of the EGF-receptor
system: a paradigm for systems biology, TRENDS in Cell Biology 13: 43-50