This chapter looks into genetic interaction networks. It highlights the importance of understanding phenotype and genotype predictions despite the difficulty of categorizing and analysing genetic interactions. It notes that attempts are being made to map each network of physical interactions. It explores how interaction networks are also being integrated into systems-level descriptions. These include physical and genetic interactions. The chapter references a study which looked into a near complete genetic interaction network for cells. This then served as a template for general genetic and physical interactions. However, it clarifies that most complete networks of gene interactions do not record all of the cells and organisms' dynamic features. The chapter explains that direct interactions have been studied on a genome-wide scale, while indirect interactions are studied with mutants. It looks at some interaction maps that deliver some of the assembly instructions for constructing how parts interact to produce a phenotype.
Chapter
Pathways, networks, and phenotypes
Chapter
Introduction to systems biology
This chapter describes systems biology. The key idea of systems biology is integration. Indeed, an initial goal of systems biology is to identify the active networks in cells, organisms, and ecosystems, and to understand the properties of their components and the interactions among them. The integrated activities of components of cells depend on networks of interactions. The chapter then looks at the general features of graphs, and the representation of networks by graphs. It considers which kinds of biological interaction patterns can profitably be thought of as networks. The chapter also identifies the distinction between static and dynamic properties of networks, before assessing the concepts of entropy and complexity and how to apply them to biological data. Finally, it outlines the properties of the Burrows-Wheeler transform and its applications.
