Systems biology 101—what you need to know

Systems biology has spurred interest in thousands of researchers, some just starting their careers, others well established but interested in learning more about it. What is the best plan for scientists and students interested in a career in systems biology? Why the excitement? The use of systematic genomic, proteomic and metabolomic technologies to construct models of complex biological systems and diseases is becoming increasingly commonplace. These endeavors, collectively known as systems biology 1,2 , establish an approach by which to interrogate and iteratively refine our knowledge of the cell. In so doing, systems biology integrates knowledge from diverse biological components and data into models of the system as a whole. Although the notion of systems science has existed for some time 3 , these approaches have recently become far more powerful because of a host of new experimental technologies that are high-throughput, quantitative and large-scale 4. As evidence of the impact 'systems' thinking has had on biology , consider the explosive growth of new research institutes, companies, conferences and academic departments that have the words 'systems biology' in the title or mission statement. Several journals are now either entirely devoted to reporting systems biology research or are sponsoring regular sections devoted to current issues in systems or computational biology, such as this inaugural section in Nature Biotechnology. And under the leadership of Elias Zerhouni, the National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD, USA) has released a new 'roadmap' that includes interdisciplinary science and inte-grative systems biology as core focus areas 5 ; the UK's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council has also targeted predictive and integrated biology as a strategic aim over the next five years 6. Where to start Because of the need to couple computational analysis techniques with systematic biological experimentation, more and more universities are offering PhD programs that integrate both computational and biological subject matter (Table 1). Several of these programs, such as those recently initiated by 'systems biology' directly in the name. Others offer courses of study from within physics, engineering or biology departments (e.g., the systems biology syllabus within the Apart from PhD programs with course offerings in systems biology, a number of institutions offer intensive short courses (Table 2). These include the Institute for Systems Biology (Seattle, WA, USA), Oxford University (Oxford, UK) and Biocentrum Amsterdam (Holland). There are also several other emerging initiatives and educational programs around the globe (Table 3). Given the …