Adventures in Systems Biology

Overview

Have you ever wondered why it's so hard to figure out what you should eat? Why can't nutritionists give us consistent advice? Have you ever wondered why one drug works wonders for your friend, but not for you? Why doesn't your doctor know what will work for you? The truth is that biological systems often contain hundreds, thousands, or even more interacting parts. While it may be easy to intuitively predict the behavior of simple mechanical or electrical systems, biology quickly escapes human intuition. In the past, this severely limited our ability to understand biological systems. However, in the past couple of decades, significant changes have occured that open the door to new understanding of biological systems. These include the widespread availability of personal computers, the development of more and more powerful computers, and the ability to measure large numbers of biological molecules in a short time. Because of these changes, we are on the cusp of a revolution. This website is designed to be a guide to the complex, fascinating world of biological systems.

What Will this Website Cover?

This website is divided into three areas: tools, biological building blocks, and biological systems. The tools section will focus on how we measure biological variables and how we use mathematical and data science tools to analyze biological data. The biologcial building blocks section will covers fundamentals of biochemistry, biophysics, enzymes, and receptors. Finally, the biological systems sectional will show how we can combine the biological building blocks and tools to study complex topics like nutrition, metabolism, and pharmacology.

Who is this Website for?

This website is designed for anyone with an interest in biology, biochemistry, medicine, metabolism, pharmacology, nutrition, mathematical biology, computational biology, or biostatistics. Whether you are a college student or are working at a pharmaceutical company, there will be something useful to you here.

Updated on 230105