Introduction To Systems In Biology - Lecture 2 Flashcards
Systems Biology
The systematic study of complex interactions in biological systems and to better understand entirely of processes
Reductionist Approach
Reducing complex phenomena into their most basic parts
Emergent properties
Properties of an entire system not necessarily evident from examining the individual components
(Ex. Personalities - consciousness made up of many emotions, not single neurons)
Bioinformatics
Predict outcomes or responses in a living system
Genomics
study of an organism’s complete set of DNA
Proteomics
Study of all proteins produces within a biological unit (ex. Organ, organ system or the entire organism)
Isolated models
- Exquisite control over experimental conditions
- can isolate mechanisms
- In-vivo
- See how they reply to stimuli
Integrated whole-body
- Less control over variables
- Viewed as LESS mechanistic
- more real world
- whole system
Reduction vs Integration example about fat oxidation
Reduction: leptin is good a burning fat
Integration: overweight individuals become leptin resistant and clinical trials were not successful
Reduction vs Integration example about VO2 Max and limiting factors
integrated model: cardiac output
reduction model: Muscle mitochondrial content
Reduction vs Integration
Clinical Example: type 2 diabetes and regulation of blood glucose
Current diagnosis is a reductionist approach
- Take blood at a single point in time at a single site (doesn’t tell you why and is very isolated)
Reduction vs Integration
Nutritional example: Should you take antioxidants or not? (Yes)
- ROS can induce oxidative damage, promote aging and disease
- protect the cell
Reduction vs Integration
Nutritional example: Should you take antioxidants or not? (No)
- A certain amount of ROS is protective
- Vitamin C/E supplementation blocks mitochondrial adaptations to excersise training
Reduction vs Integration
Nutritional example: Should you take antioxidants or not? (Conclusions)
- Study doesn’t reveal the simple questions because was performed so specifically
- Still has to screen for different markers
Reductionism perspective to medicine
Best study for conditions where one or a few components are responsible for the overall behaviour of the system
Systems-oriented perspective to medicine
- Optimal for conditions where interactions between components are responsible for the overall behaviour of the system
Reductionist perspective - disease types
Acute, simple diseases
- ex. Urinary tract infection, appendicitis and aortic aneurysm
Reductionist perspective- Limitations
Disregards components interactions and dynamics
systems oriented perspective - types of disease
Chronic, complex diseases
- ex. Diabetes, coronary artery disease, asthma
systems oriented perspective - Limitations
Costly in resources and time
