Key to future medical breakthroughs is systems biology, say leading European ...(tional reductionist approaches to drug d...)

The new policy document, produced by the Life Sciences and Medical Sciences units of the Strasbourg-based European Science Foundation (ESF) calls for a co-ordinated strategy towards systems biology across Europe. The scientists have pinpointed several key disease areas that are ripe for a systems biology approach. These include cancer and diabetes, inflammatory diseases and disorders of the central nervous system.

The report's authors state that the recommendations outlined in the Science Policy Briefing provide a more specific, practical guide towards achieving major breakthroughs in biomedical systems biology, thereby covering issues that had not been previously addressed in sufficient detail. In particular we identify and outline the necessary steps of promoting the creation of pivotal biomedical systems biology tools and facilitating their translation into crucial therapeutic advances.

The report highlights some recent successes where mathematical modelling has played a key role. The conclusions from these examples are that success was achieved when quantitative data became available; that even simple mathematical models can be of practical use and that the interdisciplinary process leading to the formulation of a model is in itself of intrinsic value.

This Science Policy Briefing is the contribution of the ESF to the EC funded Specific Support Action entitled "Advancing Systems Biology for Medical Applications" (SSA LSSG-CT-2006-037673). The recommendations resulted from ten workshops, in which more than 110 acknowledged experts from across Europe participated.

The report's authors believe that, if this document succeeds in prodding European institutions into supporting systems biology, the implementation of the recommendations presented will propel Europe to the forefront of research in systems biology and, in particular, help this interdisciplinary field to fulfil
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