Publisher's Synopsis
Complex Systems Science in Biomedicineaddresses the fundamentals of complex systems science, its applicability and relevance to biological and medical grand challenges, and its potential for the development of novel research tools as well as innovative diagnostic and treatment strategies. This textbook focuses on the importance of complex systems science in biomedical research and its impact on clinical problem solving. In Parts I and II, the book describes general topics in complex systems science with implications for biomedicine so that the interested non-specialist is able to understand the underlying hypothesis as well as the approaches and techniques used in the following sections. The core of the book (Part III) features the application of the aforementioned techniques to specific biomedical topics, starting with the molecular and cellular levels, to whole organ systems (such as the brain and the immune system), leading to the description of dynamic disease processes such as cancer and aging. The last part of the book (Part IV) discusses the emergent technologies that are built on better understanding of these complex systems and that are required to further study these systems in greater detail. These range from bioengineering and DNA-chip technology to diagnostic imaging and virtual reality applications.
