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Pharmacopsychiatry 2010; 43: S2-S8
DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1249666
Original Paper

© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Perspectives of a Systems Biology of the Synapse: How to Transform an Indefinite Data Space into a Model?

H.W. Mewes1 , 2 , B. Wachinger2 , V. Stümpflen2
  • 1Technische Universität München, Chair of Genome Oriented Bioinformatics, Center of Life and Food Science, Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany
  • 2Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology (IBIS), Helmholtz Zentrum München – German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Neuherberg, Germany
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Publication History

Publication Date:
17 May 2010 (online)

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Abstract

Understanding the synapse and its role in the development of psychiatric disorders is not only a demanding but a highly relevant challenge for neuroscience. With the advancement of modern high-throughput technologies, the amount of data collected becomes incomprehensible and the volume of information intractable for the individual scientist. Why Systems Biology opens alternatives to organize information and to deduce knowledge that can be scrutinized by rationally designed experiments? We discuss some of the fundamental ideas why Systems Biology is indeed an alternative to reductionism and show an example how semantics may help to exploit the rich source of the scientific literature to generate qualitative models of functional modules.

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Correspondence

Prof. Dr. H. W. Mewes

Chair of Genome Oriented Bioinformatics

Life Science Centre

Weihenstephan

Technische Universität

München

Maximus-von-Imhof-Forum 3

85354 Freising-Weihenstephan

Germany

Phone: +49/089/3187 3580

Fax: +49/089/3187 3585

Email: w.mewes@helmholtz-muenchen.de

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