Miguel A. Aon – författare

This volume addresses the latest state-of-the-art systems biology-oriented approaches that--driven by big data and bioinformatics--are utilized by Computational Systems Biology, an interdisciplinary field that bridges experimental tools with computational tools to tackle complex questions at the frontiers of knowledge in medicine and biotechnology. The chapters in this book are organized into six parts: systems biology of the genome, epigenome, and redox proteome; metabolic networks; aging and longevity; systems biology of diseases; spatiotemporal patterns of rhythms, morphogenesis, and complex dynamics; and genome scale metabolic modeling in biotechnology. In every chapter, readers will find varied methodological approaches applied at different levels, from molecular, cellular, organ to organisms, genome to phenome, and health and disease. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics; criteria utilized for applying specific methodologies; lists of the necessary materials, reagents, software, databases, algorithms, mathematical models, and dedicated analytical procedures; step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory, bioinformatics, and computational protocols all delivered in didactic and clear style and abundantly illustrated with express case studies and tutorials; and tips on troubleshooting and advice for achieving reproducibility while avoiding mistakes and misinterpretations. The overarching goal driving this volume is to excite the expert and stimulate the newcomer to the field of Computational Systems Biology.

Cutting-edge and authoritative, Computational Systems Biology in Medicine and Biotechnology: Methods and Protocols is a valuable resource for pre- and post-graduate students in medicine and biotechnology, and in diverse areas ranging from microbiology to cellular and organismal biology, as well as computational and experimental biologists,and researchers interested in utilizing comprehensive systems biology oriented methods. 

Systems Biology represents a new paradigm aiming at a whole-organism-level understanding of biological phenomena, emphasizing interconnections and functional interrelationships rather than component parts. The study of network properties, and how they control and regulate behavior from the cellular to organism level, constitutes a main focus of Systems Biology. This book addresses from a novel perspective a major unsolved biological problem: understanding how a cell works and what goes wrong in pathology. The task undertaken by the authors is in equal parts conceptual and methodological, integrative and analytical, experimental and theoretical, qualitative and quantitative, didactic and comprehensive. Essentially, they unravel the spatio-temporal unfolding of interacting mass-energy and information networks at the cellular and organ levels, as well as its modulation through activation or repression by signaling networks to produce a certain phenotype or (patho)physiological response.

Starting with the historical roots, in thirteen chapters this work explores the Systems Biology of signaling networks, cellular structures and fluxes, organ and microorganism functions. In doing so, it establishes the basis of a 21st century approach to biological complexity.