High‐throughput experimental techniques for generating genomes, transcriptomes, proteomes, metabolomes, and interactomes have provided unprecedented opportunities to interrogate biological systems and human diseases on a global level. Systems biology integrates the mass of heterogeneous high‐throughput data and predictive computational modeling to understand biological functions as system‐level properties. Most human diseases are biological states caused by multiple components of perturbed pathways and regulatory networks rather than individual failing components. Systems biology not only facilitates basic biological research but also provides new avenues through which to understand human diseases, identify diagnostic biomarkers, and develop disease treatments. At the same time, systems biology seeks to assist in drug discovery, drug optimization, drug combinations, and drug repositioning by investigating the molecular mechanisms of action of drugs at a system's level. Indeed, systems biology is evolving to systems medicine as a new discipline that aims to offer new approaches for addressing the diagnosis and treatment of major human diseases uniquely, effectively, and with personalized precision. WIREs Syst Biol Med 2015, 7:141–161. doi: 10.1002/wsbm.1297

This article is categorized under:

• Analytical and Computational Methods > Computational Methods
• Laboratory Methods and Technologies > Macromolecular Interactions, Methods
• Translational, Genomic, and Systems Medicine > Translational Medicine