The field of biology that treats biological systems as entities of study rather than researching the roles of individual molecules in health and disease. Systems biology utilizes a combination of biochemistry, proteomics, genomics, metabolomics and bioinformatics to better understand the contribution of each element within a system to the whole. In proteomics and cancer, perturbations in the protein component of signal transduction systems, for example, can lead to cell and tissue changes that promote tumorigenesis, therefore understanding the entire signal transduction system can often reveal drug targets that would otherwise have been overlooked.
The study of the mechanisms underlying complex biological processes as integrated systems of many, diverse, interacting components. Systems biology involves (1) collection of large sets of experimental data (by high-throughput technologies and/or by mining the literature of reductionist molecular biology and biochemistry), (2) proposal of mathematical models that might account for at least some significant aspects of this data set, (3) accurate computer solution of the mathematical equations to obtain numerical predictions, and (4) assessment of the quality of the model by comparing numerical simulations with the experimental data.
The study of the dynamic networks of interacting biological elements. (R Aebersold. Institute for Molecular Systems Biology, Zürich, Switzerland)
The Institute's mission is to carry out a new approach to biology termed systems biology and to develop the tools necessary for these pioneering approaches. The Institute [for Systems Biology] will initially focus on systems approaches to the immune system; the correlation of genomic variability with physiology and disease predisposition; the detailed analysis of a model micro- organism; and the study of diseases such as cancer, heart disease and auto- immunity. ... Dr. [Leroy] Hood's laboratory has evolved over the past three decades toward a view that systems biology is the key to understanding the biological codes that shape the development and differentiation of cells and organisms. [The Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle WA, US] http://www.systemsbiology.org/vision.html Cell biology glossary Related terms Functional genomics glossary
The study of the interactions between components of biological systems and of how these interactions give rise to the behavior of the system and to the functions of its constituents.
Systems biology is the study of the interactions between the components of a biological system, and how these interactions give rise to the function and behavior of that system (for example, the enzymes and metabolites in a metabolic pathway).