Amir Handzel
Senior Scientist
Beyond Genomics, Inc.
System Biology in Practice: Science, Technology, Challenges
Systems Biology is an emerging and quickly expanding field set to revolutionize biology in the 21st century. Its broad goal is to fully elucidate the dynamics of biological structure and function starting from the molecular level up to the full organism. It also carries far reaching implications for future medical practice including the types of drugs that will be developed and how they will be used. As a harbinger of things to come, for the first time in its history the FDA approved the use of a drug (Herceptin) in conjunction with a genomic test to identify the subpopulation of patients for whom the drug would be effective. In the academic sphere, new dedicated departments and programs are being established. In this talk, I will give an overview of scientific issues and concepts in Systems Biology, and the fast advancing technologies that are enabling its progress. I will describe some associated computational challenges and my recent work to address a few of them.