title: Foreword: from the TRANSCRIPTOME conferences to the SYSTEMOSCOPE international consortium.
abstract: This thematic issue issue of the Comptes rendus Biologies contains review articles, original papers and conference reports presented at the first two TRANSCRIPTOME conferences From Functional Genomics to Systems Biology and IMAGE Consortium Invitational workshops (Paris, November 2000 and Seattle, March 2002), and discussed during the inaugural meetings of the SYSTEMOSCOPE International Consortium (Paris, June 2003). We describe the founding principles, missions, working plan and policy for partnership and industrial development of SYSTEMOSCOPE to promote the study of the complexity of biological systems by integrating scientific, medical, ethical and economic issues in implementation of interdisciplinary projects for human health.
authors.affiliation: Genexpress, Functional Genomics and Systemic Biology for Health, CNRS FRE 2571, 7, rue Guy-Môquet, BP 8, 94801 Villejuif cedex, France. charles.auffray@vjf.cnrs.fr
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Auffray
authors.forename: Zhu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Leroy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hood
authors.forename: Bento
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.forename: Sumio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sugano
mesh_terms: D001695:Biology; D003226:Congresses as Topic; D023281:Genomics; D007391:International Cooperation; D014158:Transcription, Genetic