PerspectivesAre you interested in submitting a Perspective Article? Be sure to read The Science Advisory Board's Editorial Guides for Perspective Articles. Click here. Systems Biology and Cancer by Mohammad Aziz, Ph.D. Biological sciences have vigorously witnessed the era of -omics in the past decade. Every traditional field of biological science [has added] -omics as its surname; genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and many others were easily introduced into the concepts of modern biology. These fields were inundated with data generated in large volumes. Sequencing of the human genome fuelled these areas of research with immense potential to find patterns, motifs and models that would eventually help in understanding human beings and their biological affairs in more detail. Advent of microarray and high throughput technologies aided in reaching these objectives. Among disease, cancer was a top priority owing to its major share in the mortality rate worldwide. Cancer is aptly termed as a 'systems biology disease'. An overwhelming amount of data has been generated from years of studying the disease at a molecular and cellular level, yet it seems a far-fetched idea to integrate this information using molecular and cell biology approaches alone. It could be misleading to predict the importance of a particular gene or pathway without studying its effect on a complex web of molecules communicating among themselves through various interconnected pathways and at different levels of body organization. Now, when we have volumes of data on single genes, molecules and pathways, there is hardly any clue that could allow us to be hopeful in cancer prevention and therapeutics. What we have are big databases full of numbers and qualitative data that are good for writing papers, but do not mean much for patients in the clinic. Biological entities do not function in isolation. They work in the form of a system, and the best way to understand them would be to study them as a system. There are different levels of organization that define a system. Molecules, cells, tissues, organs and organ systems are biological systems operative at different levels of complexity. There is a pertinent need to integrate the information available at different levels and generate models that will be helpful in devising strategies for cancer prevention and therapeutics. We have huge datasets at the molecular level, which need to be integrated to bring together conclusions that can be translated into therapies and be useful for cancer patients. Many leading institutions and programs have been initiated to propel the concept of systems biology. The Institute of Systems Biology in Seattle, WA, founded by Dr. Lee Hartwell, is a promising start in this direction. The National Cancer Institute started a program in 2003, the Integrative Cancer Biology Program, wherein nine different centers across the United States were linked to bring in their expertise and develop models/concepts related to systems biology. It's a confluence of expertise from engineering, medicine and traditional biological sciences. These and many other programs running throughout the world will hopefully lead to the solution for cancer through systems biology. ### << Previous Next >> [ View All Perspectives ] |
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