Systems biology research studies of the genomes of soil-dwelling microbes discovered that they are likewise contaminated by thousands of different viruses that affect how they customize carbon-rich organic product.
Comparing the translated genomes of various plants assists us understand how plants sequester carbon dioxide and store carbon in cellulose and other polymers that constitute the plant body.
Bakers yeasts are used to make ethanol not only for beer but likewise as a biofuel. Understanding their systems biology permits scientists to engineer new yeast strains that can one day produce a replacement for fuel.
Systems biology has many prospective applications. This method helps scientists improve the system behind biofuels to make more effective, cost effective, and sustainable fuels. Systems biology is also important to comprehending the cycling of carbon.
Quick Facts
By U.S. Department of Energy
May 8, 2022
Systems biology studies how various living organisms at numerous scales connect.
Microbes, plants, animals, and entire communities all play private roles in the natural world, which is a complicated system of interlocking parts. Systems biology approaches the study of living organisms holistically. It investigates how numerous living organisms engage at different scales. Every human, for example, is a system. Our organs, tissues, cells, and the molecules they are made from, in addition to germs and other organisms that live on our skin and in our digestion system, are all part of the system.
Systems biology studies these parts and how they interact. Scientists can scale a systems biology method up and down depending on the size of the system they are studying. For example, human organs can serve as their own systems, comprised of cells, proteins, and amino acids.
Systems biology relies on mathematical and computational analysis and modeling. Some of these “omics” consist of genomics (the research study of complete sets of genes in an organism) and proteomics (the research study of all the proteins in a cell, tissue, or organism ).
Systems biology approaches the study of living organisms holistically. Systems biology research studies these parts and how they work together. Scientists can scale a systems biology technique up and down depending on the size of the system they are studying. Systems biology is likewise crucial to comprehending the biking of carbon. Systems biology could lead to much better bioproducts and biofuels, improved carbon storage, and new control over nutrients and pollutants in the environment.
Department of Energy Office of Science Contributions to Systems Biology
The Department of Energy Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program funds a broad variety of research that rests on a systems biology point of view. One major effort is DOEs Genomic Science program, which applies systems biology to problems involving energy and the environment.
Beginning with the genetic information encoded in organisms genomes, BER research seeks to discover the concepts that direct the translation of the hereditary code. Scientists also study the regulative and metabolic networks underlying the physiology of plants and microorganisms as they react to and customize their environments. This understanding will assist scientists design microbes and plants that contribute to energy independence and clean energy. Systems biology might lead to better bioproducts and biofuels, improved carbon storage, and brand-new control over nutrients and pollutants in the environment.
