What is Systems Biology?

Overview

Journal Front Physiol

Date 2011 Mar 23

PMID 21423352

Citations 30

Authors

Rainer Breitling

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Systems biology is increasingly popular, but to many biologists it remains unclear what this new discipline actually encompasses. This brief personal perspective starts by outlining the asthetic qualities that motivate systems biologists, discusses which activities do not belong to the core of systems biology, and finally explores the crucial link with synthetic biology. It concludes by attempting to define systems biology as the research endeavor that aims at providing the scientific foundation for successful synthetic biology.

Citing Articles

Systems biology approach for enhancing limonene yield by re-engineering Escherichia coli.

Khanijou J, Hee Y, Scipion C, Chen X, Selvarajoo K NPJ Syst Biol Appl. 2024; 10(1):109.

PMID: 39353984 PMC: 11445242. DOI: 10.1038/s41540-024-00440-7.

Next generation plant biostimulants & genome sequencing strategies for sustainable agriculture development.

Garg S, Nain P, Kumar A, Joshi S, Punetha H, Kumar Sharma P Front Microbiol. 2024; 15:1439561.

PMID: 39104588 PMC: 11299335. DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1439561.

Phenotypic drug discovery: a case for thymosin alpha-1.

Garaci E, Paci M, Matteucci C, Costantini C, Puccetti P, Romani L Front Med (Lausanne). 2024; 11:1388959.

PMID: 38903817 PMC: 11187271. DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1388959.

Peptidomics.

Hellinger R, Sigurdsson A, Wu W, Romanova E, Li L, Sweedler J Nat Rev Methods Primers. 2023; 3.

PMID: 37250919 PMC: 7614574. DOI: 10.1038/s43586-023-00205-2.

Teaching computational systems biology with an eye on quantitative systems pharmacology at the undergraduate level: Why do it, who would take it, and what should we teach?.

Androulakis I Front Syst Biol. 2023; 2.

PMID: 36866242 PMC: 9977321. DOI: 10.3389/fsysb.2022.1044281.

References

Feist A, Herrgard M, Thiele I, Reed J, Palsson B . Reconstruction of biochemical networks in microorganisms. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2009; 7(2):129-43. PMC: 3119670. DOI: 10.1038/nrmicro1949. View

Westerhoff H, Winder C, Messiha H, Simeonidis E, Adamczyk M, Verma M . Systems biology: the elements and principles of life. FEBS Lett. 2009; 583(24):3882-90. DOI: 10.1016/j.febslet.2009.11.018. View

Park J, Lee S, Kim T, Kim H . Application of systems biology for bioprocess development. Trends Biotechnol. 2008; 26(8):404-12. DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2008.05.001. View

Zhu J, Zhang B, Schadt E . A systems biology approach to drug discovery. Adv Genet. 2008; 60:603-35. DOI: 10.1016/S0065-2660(07)00421-X. View

Shen-Orr S, Milo R, Mangan S, Alon U . Network motifs in the transcriptional regulation network of Escherichia coli. Nat Genet. 2002; 31(1):64-8. DOI: 10.1038/ng881. View

Mangan S, Alon U . Structure and function of the feed-forward loop network motif. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003; 100(21):11980-5. PMC: 218699. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2133841100. View

Hood L, Heath J, Phelps M, Lin B . Systems biology and new technologies enable predictive and preventative medicine. Science. 2004; 306(5696):640-3. DOI: 10.1126/science.1104635. View

Lynch M . The evolution of genetic networks by non-adaptive processes. Nat Rev Genet. 2007; 8(10):803-13. DOI: 10.1038/nrg2192. View

Kalir S, Alon U . Using a quantitative blueprint to reprogram the dynamics of the flagella gene network. Cell. 2004; 117(6):713-20. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2004.05.010. View

10.

Cornish-Bowden A . Putting the systems back into systems biology. Perspect Biol Med. 2006; 49(4):475-89. DOI: 10.1353/pbm.2006.0053. View

11.

Endy D . Foundations for engineering biology. Nature. 2005; 438(7067):449-53. DOI: 10.1038/nature04342. View

12.

Powell A, Dupre J . From molecules to systems: the importance of looking both ways. Stud Hist Philos Biol Biomed Sci. 2009; 40(1):54-64. DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsc.2008.12.007. View

13.

Lynch M . The frailty of adaptive hypotheses for the origins of organismal complexity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007; 104 Suppl 1:8597-604. PMC: 1876435. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0702207104. View

14.

Xie J, Schultz P . A chemical toolkit for proteins--an expanded genetic code. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2006; 7(10):775-82. DOI: 10.1038/nrm2005. View

15.

Yuan J, Galbraith D, Dai S, Griffin P, Stewart Jr C . Plant systems biology comes of age. Trends Plant Sci. 2008; 13(4):165-71. DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2008.02.003. View

16.

Channon K, Bromley E, Woolfson D . Synthetic biology through biomolecular design and engineering. Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2008; 18(4):491-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2008.06.006. View

17.

Yeung N, Lin Y, Gao Y, Zhao X, Russell B, Lei L . Rational design of a structural and functional nitric oxide reductase. Nature. 2009; 462(7276):1079-82. PMC: 4297211. DOI: 10.1038/nature08620. View

18.

de Lorenzo V . Systems biology approaches to bioremediation. Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2008; 19(6):579-89. DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2008.10.004. View

19.

Serrano L . Synthetic biology: promises and challenges. Mol Syst Biol. 2007; 3:158. PMC: 2174633. DOI: 10.1038/msb4100202. View

20.

Lucks J, Qi L, Whitaker W, Arkin A . Toward scalable parts families for predictable design of biological circuits. Curr Opin Microbiol. 2008; 11(6):567-73. DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2008.10.002. View