title: Systems biology and heart failure: concepts, methods, and potential research applications.
abstract: Dramatic advances in molecular biology dominated twentieth century biomedical science and delineated the function of individual genes and molecules in exquisite detail. However, biological processes cannot be fully understood based on the properties of individual genes and molecules alone, since these elements act in concert to enable the specific functions that make for living cells and organisms. The discipline of systems biology provides a novel conceptual framework for understanding biological phenomenon. Systems biology synthesizes information concerning the interactions of genes and molecules and allows characterization of the supramolecular networks and functional modules that represent the most essential aspects of cell organization and physiology.
authors.affiliation: UNC Heart Failure Program, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA. kfa@med.unc.edu
authors.forename: Kirkwood F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Adams
mesh_terms: D019295:Computational Biology; D015870:Gene Expression; D014644:Genetic Variation; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D023281:Genomics; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D049490:Systems Biology