Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
21
Xulang Zhang
CONTENTS
21.1. Introduction......................................................................................................................... 487
21.2. Integrative.Biology.Focusing.on.Cellular-Level.Research.with.Nano/
Microtechnologies.............................................................................................................. 488
21.3. Integrative.Biology.Focusing.on.Tissue-Level.Research.with.Nano/
Microtechnologies.............................................................................................................. 491
21.4. Integrative.Biology.Focusing.on.Organism-Level.Research.with.Nano/
Microtechnologies.............................................................................................................. 494
21.5. Conclusions.and.Perspectives.......................................................................................... 495
References..................................................................................................................................... 495
21.1 Introduction
Integrative.biology.is.a.novel.concept.for.the.consideration.of.biological.and.biophysical.
processes.and.mechanisms.with.engineering,.chemical,.material,.and.even.computer.sci-
ence. approaches.. This. new. insight. offers. the. rearrangement. and. combination. of. multi-
ple.disciplines.including.biology,.biochemistry,.biophysics,.mechanical.engineering,.and.
other.biomedical.subjects,.etc..The.major.feature.of.integrative.biology.is.the.integration.
with.multiple.quantitative.tools.and.technologies.whose.scale.varies.from.nanometer.to.
macrometer..Therefore,.many.strategies,.especially.various.nano/microtechnologies,.have.
been. introduced. to. the. integrative. biological. research. ield. and. offer. a. broad. and. deep.
avenue.with.quantitative.insight.to.important.biological.systems.for.better.fundamental.
investigation.and.biomedicine.applications.
In.this.chapter,.we.will.focus.on.introducing.state-of-the-art.and.cutting-edge.research.
in.integrative.biology,.which.utilizes.nano/microtechnology..In.a.certain.view,.system.biol-
ogy. overlays. with. integrative. biology. with. the. characteristic. of. combining. technologies.
and.quantitative.biological.research.together,.especially.for.the.modeling.and.discovery.of.
emergent.properties.in.biological.systems.
Nano/microtechnology.is.deined.by.scale.criterion.for.the.design,.characterization,.pro-
duction,.and.application.of.structures.and.systems.by.controlled.manipulation.of.size.and.
shape.. These. structures. or. systems. possess. novel. and. unique. properties. comparing. to.
large-scale.devices.and.can.be.further.applied.to.a.wide.research.area..These.techniques.
facilitate.the.reconstruction,.interaction,.and.effect.changes.in.the.biochemical,.mechani-
cal,. and. electrical. environment. between. biological. units. such. as. molecular,. cell,. tissue,.
organ,.or.organelle.(Figure.21.1).
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