You Lingchong
Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
Cell Biochem Biophys. 2004;40(2):167-84. doi: 10.1385/CBB:40:2:167.
The development and successful application of high-throughput technologies are transforming biological research. The large quantities of data being generated by these technologies have led to the emergence of systems biology, which emphasizes large-scale, parallel characterization of biological systems and integration of fragmentary information into a coherent whole. Complementing the reductionist approach that has dominated biology for the last century, mathematical modeling is becoming a powerful tool to achieve an integrated understanding of complex biological systems and to guide experimental efforts of engineering biological systems for practical applications. Here I give an overview of current mainstream approaches in modeling biological systems, highlight specific applications of modeling in various settings, and point out future research opportunities and challenges.
高通量技术的发展与成功应用正在改变生物学研究。这些技术所产生的大量数据催生了系统生物学的出现，系统生物学强调对生物系统进行大规模、并行的表征，并将碎片化信息整合为一个连贯的整体。作为对上世纪主导生物学的还原论方法的补充，数学建模正成为一种强大的工具，用于实现对复杂生物系统的综合理解，并指导为实际应用而构建生物系统的实验工作。在此，我将概述当前生物学系统建模的主流方法，突出建模在各种场景中的具体应用，并指出未来的研究机遇与挑战。
