NBB Research Topics

Systems Biology

System biology emerged from the need to study the interactions between components that make up biological system, be it ecosystems, gene-expression or neuronal networks. You might wonder how one can study such tremendously different systems; this is where graph theory, a branch from mathematics that is applied to the study of networks, came to save the day. System biology focuses on generating an abstracted picture of the system in the form of a graph, then applying methods from graph theory to uncover patterns hidden in the structure of the connections (i.e. interactions) between the elements of the system. For example, using this approach, one can identify a species that if extinct can topple an entire ecosystem, just because many pray or are preyed by it. Similarly, on can predict dynamics of gene expression in a synthetic biological system. Not surprisingly, system biology attracts many scientists from biology, mathematics and physics, all working together in this new field which is set to change the way biology is being studied, shifting from a “reductionist” approach to a more “holistic” and integrative view.