Foundations of Systems Biology in Engineering — Overview
The reductionist approaches of molecular and cellular biology have produced revolutionary advances in our understanding of biological function and information processing. The difficulty associated with relating molecular components to their systemic function led to the development of systems biology, a relatively new field that aims to establish a bridge between molecular level information and systems level understanding. The novelty of systems biology lies in the emphasis on analyzing complexity in networked biological systems using integrative rather than reductionist approaches. By its very nature, systems biology is a highly interdisciplinary field that requires the effective integration of scientists and engineers with different technical backgrounds and the interdisciplinary training of students to meet the rapidly evolving needs of academia, industry, and government.
The Third International Conference on Foundations of Systems Biology in Engineering (FOSBE 2009) sponsored by the CACHE Corporation will address emerging challenges and opportunities in systems biology. FOSBE 2009 will continue the two-year cycle of the FOSBE conference series, with successful conferences previously held in Santa Barbara, California (August, 2005) and Stuttgart, Germany (September, 2007). The primary objectives of the FOSBE 2009 conference will be to provide an in-depth review and critical assessment of the current state-of-the-art, to discuss current and future needs of research, education and training, and to identify new directions, opportunities, and challenges in systems biology. We anticipate strong attendance from academia, industry, and government