A Brief History of Systems Biology: 'Every object that biology studies is a system of systems.' Francois Jacob (1974).

摘要

A system is a network of mutually dependent and thus interconnected components comprising a unified whole. Every system exhibits emergent behavior, a unique property possessed only by the whole system and not shared to any great degree by the individual components on their own. Systems biology is currently undergoing enormous expansion, but there seems little awareness of either the history of systems biology or the behavior of systems that make them exciting to study. The aim of this article is to expand on both themes. Original references that pioneered changes in perception of systems structure and behavior are indicated, and a few modern developments are briefly referenced to indicate progress. The essay focuses on systems biology prior to the age of genomics and large-scale biology, with the intent of giving modern systems biologists a sense of the extensive foundations of the field.