Recent Advances In Systems Biology Research

Driven by rapid developments in protein and DNA sequencing technologies, systems biology has become an important research paradigm. It is marked by an emphasis on integrating data on multiple scales and creating a framework for developing predictive models that are valid across the spectrum of structural hierarchies found in biological systems. This book consists of fourteen original chapters and an introduction that together provide a comprehensive introduction to the subject starting from discussions of its definition and scope and ending in detailed reviews of how the systems approach is affecting clinical research and practice. Most chapters are written to be accessible to a wide readership and contain references to the latest research. Altogether, this is a state-of-the-art description of the present and future of systems biology.

This book addresses the design of emerging conceptual tools, technologies and systems including novel synthetic parts, devices, circuits, oscillators, biological gates, and small regulatory RNAs (riboregulators and riboswitches), which serve as versatile control elements for regulating gene expression. Synthetic biology, a rapidly growing field that involves the application of engineering principles in biology, is now being used to develop novel systems for a wide range of applications including diagnostics, cell reprogramming, therapeutics, enzymes, vaccines, biomaterials, biofuels, fine chemicals and many more. The book subsequently summarizes recent developments in technologies for assembling synthetic genomes, minimal genomes, synthetic biology toolboxes, CRISPR-Cas systems, cell-free protein synthesis systems and microfluidics. Accordingly, it offers a valuable resource not only for beginners in synthetic biology, but also for researchers, students, scientists, clinicians, stakeholders and policymakers interested in the potential held by synthetic biology.

This collective monograph aims at contributing to an improved understanding of the epistemic presumptions, sociocultural implications and historically backgrounds of the newly emerging and currently expanding approach of systems biology. In doing so, it offers empirically grounded, valuable and reflexive information about a paradigmatic shift in the biosciences for a wide range of scientists working in the interdisciplinary areas of systems biology, synthetic biology, molecular biology, biology, the philosophy of science, the sociology of science and scientific knowledge, science and technology studies, technology assessment and the like. The authors of this monograph share the theoretical methodological premise that science is a culturally and socially embedded practice which characterizes our culture as a scientific one and at the same time draws its innovative potential from its socio-cultural context. This dialectic relationship lies at the heart of the current development of systems biology which is conceived as a so-called successor of ‘-omics’ research and triggered by high-throughput information technologies. At the same time a need for a holistic conceptualization of complex biological processes emerges. The title Contextualizing Systems Biology suggests that this book analyzes the development and advent of systems biology from different theoretical and methodological perspectives. We investigate a variety of contexts ranging from the analysis of cognitive contexts (such as basic theoretical concepts) to regulative contexts (policies) to the concrete application of a systems biology in the socio-scientific context of a European research project. In empirically analyzing these different and interrelated layers and dimensions of systems biology, the scope of the book goes beyond present attempts to investigate the advent of new approaches in the biological sciences as it frames and assesses systems biology from an interdisciplinary and integrated perspective.

The International Society for Systems Biology (ISSB) is a society aimed at advancing world-wide systems biology research by providing a forum for scientific discussions and various academic services. The ISSB helps coordinate researchers to form alliances for meeting the unique needs of multidisciplinary and international systems biology research. The annual International Conference on Systems Biology (ICSB) serves as the main meeting for the society and is one of the largest academic and commercial gatherings under the broad heading of Systems Biology ."

This book explores Systems Biology as the understanding of biological network behaviors, and in particular their dynamic aspects, which requires the utilization of mathematical modeling tightly linked to experiment. A variety of approaches are discussed here: the identification and validation of networks, the creation of appropriate datasets, the development of tools for data acquisition and software development, and the use of modeling and simulation software in close concert with experiment.

Proceedings of The 2009 International Conference on Bioinformatics and Computational Biology in Las Vegas, NV, July 13-16, 2009. Recent advances in Computational Biology are covered through a variety of topics. Both inward research (core areas of computational biology and computer science) and outward research (multi-disciplinary, Inter-disciplinary, and applications) will be covered during the conferences. These include: Gene regulation, Gene expression databases, Gene pattern discovery and identification, Genetic network modeling and inference, Gene expression analysis, RNA and DNA structure and sequencing, Biomedical engineering, Microarrays, Molecular sequence and structure databases, Molecular dynamics and simulation, Molecular sequence classification, alignment and assembly, Image processing In medicine and biological sciences, Sequence analysis and alignment, Informatics and Statistics in Biopharmaceutical Research, Software tools for computational biology and bioinformatics, Comparative genomics; and more.

The convergence of biology and computer science was initially motivated by the need to organize and process a growing number of biological observations resulting from rapid advances in experimental techniques. Today, however, close collaboration between biologists, biochemists, medical researchers, and computer scientists has also generated remarkable benefits for the field of computer science. Systemic Approaches in Bioinformatics and Computational Systems Biology: Recent Advances presents new techniques that have resulted from the application of computer science methods to the organization and interpretation of biological data. The book covers three subject areas: bioinformatics, computational biology, and computational systems biology. It focuses on recent, systemic approaches in computer science and mathematics that have been used to model, simulate, and more generally, experiment with biological phenomena at any scale.

Groundbreaking, long-ranging research in this emergent field that enables solutions to complex biological problems Computational systems biology is an emerging discipline that is evolving quickly due to recent advances in biology such as genome sequencing, high-throughput technologies, and the recent development of sophisticated computational methodologies. Elements of Computational Systems Biology is a comprehensive reference covering the computational frameworks and techniques needed to help research scientists and professionals in computer science, biology, chemistry, pharmaceutical science, and physics solve complex biological problems. Written by leading experts in the field, this practical resource gives detailed descriptions of core subjects, including biological network modeling, analysis, and inference; presents a measured introduction to foundational topics like genomics; and describes state-of-the-art software tools for systems biology. Offers a coordinated integrated systems view of defining and applying computational and mathematical tools and methods to solving problems in systems biology Chapters provide a multidisciplinary approach and range from analysis, modeling, prediction, reasoning, inference, and exploration of biological systems to the implications of computational systems biology on drug design and medicine Helps reduce the gap between mathematics and biology by presenting chapters on mathematical models of biological systems Establishes solutions in computer science, biology, chemistry, and physics by presenting an in-depth description of computational methodologies for systems biology Elements of Computational Systems Biology is intended for academic/industry researchers and scientists in computer science, biology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical science. It is also accessible to undergraduate and graduate students in machine learning, data mining, bioinformatics, computational biology, and systems biology courses.