Pathway Biology Approach to Medicine

An increasing number of biological experiments and more recently clinical based studies are being conducted using large-scale genomic, proteomic and metabolomic techniques which generate high-dimensional data sets. Such approaches require the adoption of both hypothesis and data driven strategies in the analysis and interpretation of results. In particular, data-mining and pattern recognition methodologies have proven particularly useful in this field. The increasing amount of information available from high-throughput experiments has initiated a move from focussed, single gene and protein investigations abstract Systems biology provides a new approach to studying, analyzing, and ultimately controlling biological processes. Biological pathways represent a key sub-system level of organization that seamlessly perform complex information processing and control tasks. The aim of pathway biology is to map and understand the cause-effect relationships and dependencies associated with the complex interactions of biological networks and systems. Drugs that therapeutically modulate the biological processes of disease are often developed with limited knowledge of the underlying complexity of their specific targets. Considering the combinatorial complexity from the outset might help identify potential causal relationships that could lead to a better understanding of the drug-target biology as well as provide new biomarkers for modelling diagnosis and treatment response in patients. This chapter discusses the use of a pathway biology approach to modelling biological processes and providing a new framework for experimental medicine in the post-genomic era