NATO Advanced Study Institute on Dynamics of Complex Interconnected Biosensor Systems: Networks and Bioprocesses

The book reviews the synergism between various fields of research that are confronted with networks, such as genetic and metabolic networks, social networks, the Internet and ecological systems. In many cases, the interacting networks manifest so-called emergent properties that are not possessed by any of the individual components. This means that the detailed knowledge of the components is insufficient to describe the whole system. Recent work has indicated that networks in nature have so-called scale-free characteristics, and the associated dynamic network modelling shows unexpected results such as an amazing robustness against accidental failures. Modelling the signal transduction networks in bioprocesses as in living cells is a challenging interdisciplinary research area. It is now realized that the many features of molecular interaction networks within a cell are shared to a large degree by the other complex systems mentioned above, such as the Internet, computer chips and society. Thus knowledge gained from the study of complex non-biological systems can be applied to the intricate braided relationships that govern cellular functions.