ISB News

Systems Biology 101: Understanding Proteomics

If DNA is the blueprint for life, then proteins are the bricks. The genes in DNA are translated into proteins, strings of amino acids that fold into three-dimensional structures. The type and order of the amino acids in a protein will change its shape and determine its special function. Proteins are the molecules that make life happen: they are the powerplants that turn food into energy, the machines that make…

SYSTEMS BIOLOGY 101: On Being Interdisciplinary

In describing systems biology and the distinguishing characteristics of ISB’s approach, we always emphasize how our lab groups are intentionally and necessarily interdisciplinary. One of our labs, for example, includes molecular biologists, microbiologists, geneticists, engineers, oceanographers, and even an astrophysicist. The complexity of biology in this age of “big data” requires diverse teams in order tackle such vast amounts of data and to make sense of it all. New technologies…

Systems Biology 101: Network of Networks

(Illustration above is cropped.) With networks we can organize and integrate information at different levels. Social networks have transformed communications in the 21st Century, democratizing our platforms for communications. At ISB we are also concerned with networks. One of the tenets of systems biology we often refer to is the “Network of Networks.” On a biological level, our bodies are made up of many networks that are integrated at and…

Systems Biology 101: What is ISB’s Innovation Engine?

A fundamental tenet of systems biology is that solving challenging biological problems always requires the development of new technologies in order to explore new dimension of data space. New data types require novel analytical tools. This virtuous cycle of biology driving technology driving computation can exist only in a cross-disciplinary environment where biologists, chemists, computer scientist, engineers, mathematicians, physicists, physicians and others can come together in teams to tackle grand…