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Evolutionary Systems Biology: Historical and Philosophical Perspectives on an Emerging Synthesis

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Book cover Evolutionary Systems Biology

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((volume 751))

Abstract

Systems biology (SB) is at least a decade old now and maturing rapidly. A more recent field, evolutionary systems biology (ESB), is in the process of further developing system-level approaches through the expansion of their explanatory and potentially predictive scope. This chapter will outline the varieties of ESB existing today by tracing the diverse roots and fusions that make up this integrative project. My approach is philosophical and historical. As well as examining the recent origins of ESB, I will reflect on its central features and the different clusters of research it comprises. In its broadest interpretation, ESB consists of five overlapping approaches: comparative and correlational ESB; network architecture ESB; network property ESB; population genetics ESB; and finally, standard evolutionary questions answered with SB methods. After outlining each approach with examples, I will examine some strong general claims about ESB, particularly that it can be viewed as the next step toward a fuller modern synthesis of evolutionary biology (EB), and that it is also the way forward for evolutionary and systems medicine. I will conclude with a discussion of whether the emerging field of ESB has the capacity to combine an even broader scope of research aims and efforts than it presently does.

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Acknowledgments

The research for this chapter was funded by the Australian Research Council in the form of a Future Fellowship held at the University of Sydney. The referees and editor are gratefully acknowledged for their assistance in improving this chapter.

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    Maureen A. O’Malley

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    Orkun S. Soyer

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O’Malley, M.A. (2012). Evolutionary Systems Biology: Historical and Philosophical Perspectives on an Emerging Synthesis. In: Soyer, O. (eds) Evolutionary Systems Biology. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 751. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3567-9_1

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