Quantitative biology

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Quantitative biology is an umbrella term encompassing the use of mathematical, statistical or computational techniques to study life and living organisms. The central theme and goal of quantitative biology is the creation of predictive models based on fundamental principles governing living systems. [1] [2]

The subfields of biology that employ quantitative approaches include:

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Cancer systems biology encompasses the application of systems biology approaches to cancer research, in order to study the disease as a complex adaptive system with emerging properties at multiple biological scales. Cancer systems biology represents the application of systems biology approaches to the analysis of how the intracellular networks of normal cells are perturbed during carcinogenesis to develop effective predictive models that can assist scientists and clinicians in the validations of new therapies and drugs. Tumours are characterized by genomic and epigenetic instability that alters the functions of many different molecules and networks in a single cell as well as altering the interactions with the local environment. Cancer systems biology approaches, therefore, are based on the use of computational and mathematical methods to decipher the complexity in tumorigenesis as well as cancer heterogeneity.

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References

  1. Howard, J. (2014-11-03). "Quantitative cell biology: the essential role of theory". Molecular Biology of the Cell. American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB). 25 (22): 3438–3440. doi:10.1091/mbc.e14-02-0715. ISSN   1059-1524. PMC   4230598 . PMID   25368416.
  2. Hastings, Alan; Arzberger, Peter; Bolker, Ben; Collins, Scott; Ives, Anthony R.; Johnson, Norman A.; Palmer, Margaret A. (2005). "Quantitative Bioscience for the 21st Century". BioScience. Oxford University Press (OUP). 55 (6): 511. doi: 10.1641/0006-3568(2005)055[0511:QBFTSC]2.0.CO;2 . ISSN   0006-3568.