The nature of systems biology

    Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    Abstract

    The advent of functional genomics has enabled the molecular biosciences to come a long way towards characterizing the molecular constituents of life. Yet, the challenge for biology overall is to understand how organisms function. By discovering how function arises in dynamic interactions, systems biology addresses the missing links between molecules and physiology. Top-down systems biology identifies molecular interaction networks on the basis of correlated molecular behavior observed in genome-wide 'omics' studies. Bottom-up systems biology examines the mechanisms through which functional properties arise in the interactions of known components. Here, we outline the challenges faced by systems biology and discuss limitations of the top-down and bottom-up approaches, which, despite these limitations, have already led to the discovery of mechanisms and principles that underlie cell function. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)45-50
    Number of pages6
    JournalTrends In Microbiology
    Volume15
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2007

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