Seminars in Immunology 16 (2004) 55–67 A systems approach to dissecting immunity and inflammation

The immune and inflammatory responses are extraordinarily complex, involving the dynamic interaction of a wide array of tissues, cells, and molecules. Traditional approaches are by and large reductionist, shying away from complexity, but providing detailed knowledge of circumscribed physiologic, cellular and molecular entities. The sequencing of the human genome, in concert with emerging genomic and proteomic technologies permits the definition of a complete and dynamic parts list of the immune and inflammatory systems. When harnessed with powerful new computational approaches, this will for the first time provide a comprehensive description of these complex biological processes