College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
Trends Genet. 2011 Dec;27(12):493-8. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2011.09.002. Epub 2011 Oct 20.
Following the widespread use of genome-wide association studies to elucidate the genetic architectures of complex phenotypes, there has been a push to augment existing observational studies with additional layers of molecular information. The resulting high-dimensional data have led the emergence of research in integrative systems biology. Here, we examine recent progress in characterizing biological networks as well as the corresponding conceptual and analytical challenges. Using examples from metabolomics, we contend that integrative systems biology should prompt a re-examination of conventional phenotypic measures where heterogeneous or correlated phenotypes can be fine-mapped. Although still in its infancy, it is apparent that the large-scale characterization of molecular systems will transform our understanding of phenotype, biology and pathogenesis.
在广泛应用全基因组关联研究阐明复杂表型的遗传结构之后，人们一直致力于在现有观察性研究的基础上增加额外的分子信息层。由此产生的高维数据促使人们开展了综合系统生物学的研究。在这里，我们研究了描述生物网络的最新进展，以及相应的概念和分析挑战。我们使用代谢组学的例子来说明，综合系统生物学应该促使人们重新审视传统的表型测量方法，在这些方法中，异质或相关的表型可以进行精细映射。尽管它还处于起步阶段，但很明显，对分子系统的大规模描述将改变我们对表型、生物学和发病机制的理解。
