Systematic
How Systems Biology Is Transforming Modern Medicine
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- $23.99
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- $23.99
Publisher Description
A brilliant young scientist introduces us to the fascinating field that is changing our understanding of how the body works and the way we can approach healing.
SYSTEMATIC is the first book to introduce general readers to systems biology, which is improving medical treatments and our understanding of living things. In traditional bottom-up biology, a biologist might spend years studying how a single protein works, but systems biology studies how networks of those proteins work together--how they promote health and how to remedy the situation when the system isn't functioning properly.
Breakthroughs in systems biology became possible only when powerful computer technology enabled researchers to process massive amounts of data to study complete systems, and has led to progress in the study of gene regulation and inheritance, cancer drugs personalized to an individual's genetically unique tumor, insights into how the brain works, and the discovery that the bacteria and other microbes that live in the gut may drive malnutrition and obesity. Systems biology is allowing us to understand more complex phenomena than ever before.
In accessible prose, SYSTEMATIC sheds light not only on how systems within the body work, but also on how research is yielding new kinds of remedies that enhance and harness the body's own defenses.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Amazing phenomena occur when cells work together, writes Valcourt in this accessible introduction to systems biology, a field with a distinguished history that took off at the beginning of the 21st century. Combining engineering, mathematics, and advances in computing technology, scientists are learning how the innumerable elements in a complex organism work in concert. Valcourt offers as an example the seemingly miraculous workings of the human brain. A single brain cell simply fires an electric pulse, but 86 billion connected brain cells enable a person to think, feel, imagine, and wonder. Systems biologists are studying that kind of leap from simple action to complex behavior. Valcourt visits laboratories where researchers are examining the mechanism of aging, the specific genetic errors that make a cell malignant, why useful drugs produce nasty side-effects, and why the immune system overreacts (provoking allergies) or underreacts (ignoring cancers). Understanding these processes will transform human lives, but despite the book's title, at present the field's triumphs are largely confined to the laboratory; as Valcourt admits, many ongoing attempts to unlock these secrets will fizzle. Still, systems biologists seem on the verge of achieving great things, and Valcourt delivers a lucid introduction to this ingenious combination of the hard sciences and advanced technology that adopts a holistic view of natural phenomena.
