Systems biomedicine, also called systems biomedical science, is the application of systems biology to the understanding and modulation of developmental and pathological processes in humans, and in animal and cellular models. Whereas systems biology aims at modeling exhaustive networks of interactions (with the long-term goal of, for example, creating a comprehensive

computational model A computational model uses computer programs to simulate and study complex systems using an algorithmic or mechanistic approach and is widely used in a diverse range of fields spanning from physics, chemistry and biology to economics, psychology, ...

of the cell), mainly at intra-cellular level, systems biomedicine emphasizes the multilevel, hierarchical nature of the models (

molecule A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioche ...

, organelle,

cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery ...

, tissue, organ, individual/ genotype,

environmental factor An environmental factor, ecological factor or eco factor is any factor, abiotic or biotic, that influences living organisms. Abiotic factors include ambient temperature, amount of sunlight, and pH of the water soil in which an organism lives. Bi ...

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

) by discovering and selecting the key factors at each level and integrating them into models that reveal the global,

emergent behavior In philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence occurs when an entity is observed to have properties its parts do not have on their own, properties or behaviors that emerge only when the parts interact in a wider whole. Emergence ...

of the biological process under consideration. Such an approach will be favorable when the execution of all the experiments necessary to establish exhaustive models is limited by time and expense (e.g., in animal models) or basic ethics (e.g., human experimentation). In the year of 1992, a paper on system biomedicine by Kamada T. was published (Nov.-Dec.), and an article on systems medicine and pharmacology by Zeng B.J. was also published (April) in the same time period. In 2009, the first collective book on systems biomedicine was edited by Edison T. Liu and Douglas A. Lauffenburger. In October 2008, one of the first research groups uniquely devoted to systems biomedicine was established at the

European Institute of Oncology The European Institute of Oncology ( it, Istituto Europeo di Oncologia, IEO) is a non-profit private-law comprehensive cancer centre located in Milan, Italy. It is a clinic, a research centre and a training institution. IEO is a member of EU-LIFE ...

. One of the first research centers specialized on systems biomedicine was founded by Rudi Balling. The Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine is an interdisciplinary center of the

University of Luxembourg The University of Luxembourg (French: ''Université du Luxembourg''; German: ''Universität Luxemburg''; Luxembourgish: ''Universitéit Lëtzebuerg'') is a public research university in Luxembourg. History The University of Luxembourg was found ...

. The first centre devoted to spatial issues in systems biomedicine has been recently establishedCenter for Spatial Systems Biomedicine -About
/ref> at

Oregon Health and Science University Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. The first peer-reviewed journal on this topic, Systems Biomedicine, was recently established by Landes Bioscience.

References

{{Reflist Bioinformatics Systems biology

See also

References