Systems Biology is New and Interdisciplinary

Jun 14, 11:02 AM

Current Headlines: By A.J. Hostetler, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.

Jun. 14--Once, it would have sounded like a joke -- "An immunologist, a physicist and a mathematician walk into a lab."

The trio now signals a new, interdisciplinary way to study life and combat illness in Virginia and across the country, said molecular biologist Leroy Hood.

In the mid-1980s, as Hood and other scientists planned the Human Genome Project, he learned of the concept called systems biology, in which scientists cross disciplines to study a living organism and its functions.

A growing group of biologists -- joined by computer scientists, engineers and other researchers -- call for a more holistic approach, one that looks at organisms as part of a network.

In 2000, Hood established a Seattle institute dedicated to systems biology; at the same time, Virginia Commonwealth University began adopting the concept within its new Life Sciences program.

Systems biology is "all about the network, stupid," former pharmaceutical executive and ex-VCU scientist Burt Aldeman said at a three-day conference the school held last week. The jest was repeated by speakers and attendees as they explained how systems biology differs from traditional methods of conducting biological studies.

For the past century, biologists have focused on trying to understand living organisms, their function and diseases a gene or protein at a time. That effort has been painfully slow, say some biologists, and has not resulted in the hoped-for radically new treatments for diseases such as cancers.

Hood, who served as honorary co-chairman of the VCU conference, said traditional biologists think about organisms as if they were an engineer trying to understand a radio through a list of its parts. To understand what a radio is requires studying the interaction of those parts, he said.

Conference speakers addressed the role of systems biology in learning how to combat and prevent disease. George Mason University's Emanuel "Chip" Petricoin led a panel on how systems biology will bring to fruition the concept of personalized medicine to treat diseases such as cancer.

Virginia, with its strong base in information technology ready to apply the knowledge gained by the Human Genome Project, "is really in a great position to pounce on a leadership role" in this area, he said.

Contact A.J. Hostetler at (804) 649-6355 or ahostetler@timesdispatch.com.

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