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Technologies are now in place to obtain large amounts of data for systems biology approaches. What are the most suitable technologies for fast, accurate and high-throughput data collection? And following data collection, how should these data be analysed and validated?
Regression is a method to estimate parameters in mathematical models of biological systems from experimental data. To ensure the validity of a model for a given data set, pre-regression and post-regression diagnostic tests must accompany the process of model fitting.
New technologies are permitting larger scale and more quantitative studies of signalling networks. The large data sets that are obtained from these studies can be analysed by data-driven modelling approaches. These models are now emerging as standard tools for systems-level research in signalling networks.
Systems biology has produced a challenge to the educational system. In the future, practitioners of biology at the systems level will need combinations of skills that are rarely found in individual scientists today. So, how should we educate students to succeed across scientific disciplines?
Protein tyrosine phosphatases can no longer be viewed as passive housekeeping enzymes. It is now becoming apparent that they have important roles in the regulation of signalling responses. So, what are the functions of these enzymes? And how are they regulated?
Auxins are a class of plant hormones that affect various aspects of plant development. Recent studies have identified certain F-box-domain proteins as auxin receptors that control auxin-regulated gene expression through ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis. Other modes of auxin perception and signalling are also thought to exist.
It is surely time for water to take up its rightful position as the most important and active of all biological molecules. Liquid water is highly versatile — it can control, for example, the folding, structure, activity and interactions of macromolecules.
The discovery of insulin in 1921 was one of the great medical advances of the twentieth century. Since then, key discoveries have led to a molecular understanding of the insulin-signalling pathway and revealed targets for the treatment of type-2 diabetes.
