What is Integrative and Systems Biology?

Biology has traditionally been divided into distinct subject areas, and this speciation has served the field well until recently, when it has started to stifle originality. To fully understand our excitement at the prospect of breaking these barriers down, we need some definitions.

Integrative biology

This is named in contrast to the reductionist or analytical approach typified by molecular biology. Once we have the DNA sequence for an organism, post-genomic science is devoted to find out how these genes work to produce a functioning, healthy organism. This integrative approach, emphasising the move from DNA, through cell and tissue to organism and beyond, is intrinsically multi-level - one of the key criteria for systems biology.

Integrative biology does not reject molecular sciences, but rather draws heavily on forward and reverse genetics, on transgenesis, and on post-genomic technologies like microarrays, to understand gene function in the intact organism. This is a goal shared with functional genomics.

Functional genomics

There are several definitions of functional genomics; but essentially it is the science of understanding the function of every gene in the genome. As most animals have 10-20000 genes, functional genomics has spawned several technologies that allow scientists to take a global view of their question:

• Microarrays - allows us to measure expression of all genes in a single experiment
• Proteomics - provides data for hundreds or thousands of proteins at a time
• Metabolomics - provides a sensitive assay for the metabolic networks in our cells
• Mutant collections - allow reverse-genetic study of thousands of genes at once

Insights obtained with these technologies have had a massive impact on our understanding of functional biology, in humans and other organisms. However, the size of the datasets obtained has led to the realization that mathematics, statistics and modelling approaches will both help us understand the data we have, and suggest new avenues of experimentation.

Systems biology

The new synthesis of large datasets with an integrative approach and predictive modelling is the core of the new systems biology. Our grouping is ideally placed to move in this direction, because of:

• The interdiscipliniarity of our staff, from anatomists to bioinformaticians
• The range of research skills, from functional biology, through cell biology and genetics
• The world-class infrastructure in our Sir Henry Wellcome Functional Genomics Facility
• Links to complementary groups in the West of Scotland and beyond
• Our inter-faculty Bioinformatics Research Centre, devoted to the application of mathematical and computing skills to biological questions

We do not require every research question in our ISB research theme to become an exercise in mathematical biology - indeed, this would be counterproductive. However, our staff are determined to play with a "full deck", making informed decisions as to which techniques from all those available, are the most appropriate for their particular questions.