Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
1.4
ELECTRONIC CELL ENVIRONMENTS:
COMBINING GENE, PROTEIN, AND
METABOLIC NETWORKS
P. Dhar
Bioinformatics Institute, Singapore
M. Tomita
Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University,
Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan
Whole-cell modeling is an emerging field of science that takes a systems view of the cell.
The grand challenge is to understand, model, and simulate cellular complexity, and by
extension, an organism. In this chapter we have tried to outline the raw material for mod-
eling a cell, the advantages and limitations of various modeling strategies, the currently
available tools, the biomedical applications, and the prospects for future growth in this
field.
1.
INTRODUCTION
The classical method of studying biology has been dominated by a ubiqui-
tous reductionist approach, that is, dividing a problem into well-defined compo-
nents and studying each one in isolation. Though this strategy has largely
succeeded in enhancing our knowledge of life, it has also resulted in creation of
rules that come with
exceptions
! This is primarily because knowledge emerged
Address correspondence to: Masaru Tomita, Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University,
5322 Endo, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, 252-8520 Japan (mt@sfc.keio.ac.jp).
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