A brilliant young scientist introduces us to the fascinating field
that is changing our understanding of how the body works and the way we
can approach healing.
SYSTEMATIC is the first book to introduce general readers to systems
biology, which is improving medical treatments and our understanding of
living things. In traditional bottom-up biology, a biologist might spend
years studying how a single protein works, but systems biology studies
how networks of those proteins work together--how they promote health
and how to remedy the situation when the system isn't functioning
properly.
Breakthroughs in systems biology became possible only when powerful
computer technology enabled researchers to process massive amounts of
data to study complete systems, and has led to progress in the study of
gene regulation and inheritance, cancer drugs personalized to an
individual's genetically unique tumor, insights into how the brain
works, and the discovery that the bacteria and other microbes that live
in the gut may drive malnutrition and obesity. Systems biology is
allowing us to understand more complex phenomena than ever before.
In accessible prose, SYSTEMATIC sheds light not only on how systems
within the body work, but also on how research is yielding new kinds of
remedies that enhance and harness the body's own defenses.
