System Modeling in Cellular Biology: From Concepts to Nuts and Bolts

Research in systems biology requires the collaboration of researchersfrom diverse backgrounds, including biology, computer science, mathematics, statistics, physics, and biochemistry. These collaborations, necessary because ofthe enormous breadth of background needed for research in this field, can behindered by differing understandings of the limitations and applicability

Research in systems biology requires the collaboration of researchersfrom diverse backgrounds, including biology, computer science, mathematics, statistics, physics, and biochemistry. These collaborations, necessary because ofthe enormous breadth of background needed for research in this field, can behindered by differing understandings of the limitations and applicability oftechniques and concerns from different disciplines. This comprehensive introductionand overview of system modeling in biology makes the relevant background materialfrom all pertinent fields accessible to researchers with different backgrounds.Theemerging area of systems level modeling in cellular biology has lacked a criticaland thorough overview. This book fills that gap. It is the first to provide thenecessary critical comparison of concepts and approaches, with an emphasis on theirpossible applications. It presents key concepts and their theoretical background, including the concepts of robustness and modularity and their exploitation to studybiological systems; the best-known modeling approaches, and their advantages anddisadvantages; lessons from the application of mathematical models to the study ofcellular biology; and available modeling tools and datasets, along with theircomputational limitations.