title: Network biology: a direct approach to study biological function.
abstract: In this paper we discuss the dualism of gene networks and their role in systems biology. We argue that gene networks (1) can serve as a conceptual framework, forming a fundamental level of a phenomenological description, and (2) are a means to represent and analyze data. The latter point does not only allow a systems analysis but is even amenable for a direct approach to study biological function. Here we focus on the clarity of our main arguments and conceptual meaning of gene networks, rather than the causal inference of gene networks from data. WIREs Syst Biol Med 2011 3 379-391 DOI: 10.1002/wsbm.134 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.
authors.affiliation: Computational Biology and Machine Learning, Center for Cancer Research and Cell Biology, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK. v@bio-complexity.com
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Emmert-Streib
authors.forename: Galina V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Glazko
mesh_terms: D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D040081:Protein Array Analysis; D049490:Systems Biology