Abstract
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. Historically, the roots of Systems Biology are multiple and of a diverse nature, comprising theoretical and conceptual developments, mathematical and modeling tools, and comprehensive analytical methodologies aimed at listing molecular components.
As a systemic approach, modern Systems Biology is deeply rooted in Integrative Physiology from which it inherits two big foundational principles: (1) a non-reductionist, integrative, view and (2) the capability of defining the context within which genes and their mutations will find meaning.
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Aon, M.A., Lloyd, D., Saks, V. (2014). From Physiology, Genomes, Systems, and Self-Organization to Systems Biology: The Historical Roots of a Twenty-First Century Approach to Complexity. In: Aon, M., Saks, V., Schlattner, U. (eds) Systems Biology of Metabolic and Signaling Networks. Springer Series in Biophysics, vol 16. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38505-6_1
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