The "Systems Biology: a vision for engineering and medicine" report, by The Royal Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Medical Sciences, has called for three to five new centres of excellence for systems biology research to be established in order to prevent the UK falling behind other countries. The centres would cost approximately £325m (€488m) over the next 10 years. Systems biology is an interdisciplinary approach that seeks to understand how individual components interact and dictate the overall function of a complex biological system. The sector uses an iterative cycle of computer models and laboratory experiments to model cells, organs or even whole organisms.
Considering the bigger picture would lead to a more efficient drug discovery process so that innovative drugs can be brought to patients faster and more cheaply, argues the report.
"Now is an exciting time for research, we have the tools and data for Systems Biology to benefit the UK in early access to medical advances and create economic opportunities to commercialise research in key economic sectors such as pharmaceuticals and engineering," said Sir Colin Dollery, joint chair for the working group.
The US currently leads the way in many aspects of systems biology research with rapid growth in Japan and Europe threatening to overshadow "patchy" UK research. The report stated that, without increasing systems biology research in the UK, top researchers will be attracted abroad and the pharma industry could be tempted to look to the US, South Asia and the Far East for research and development opportunities.
"Success could make the UK a leader in a key field; failure could have serious repercussions on scientific and economic progress with the UK losing its competitive edge over other countries such as the US and Japan," he concluded.
The identity of all the proteins that exist in humans is not yet known, never mind their function. New disease-related genes and proteins are discovered all the time but understanding their role within a biological system, rather than in isolation, is tremendously difficult. Protein molecules, for example, do not function alone but as part of multifaceted assemblies and pathways.
To tackle the problem, systems biology, takes data from molecular biology and genomics research to build and test complex mathematical models. These models can then be used to study many more situations and variables than traditional experiments alone. The results can then drive more targeted laboratory experiments, which in turn can feed data back into the models.
This cycle of building knowledge requires input from a wide range of fields, including the physiological, pharmacological, engineering, mathematical and physical sciences.
As well as more funding, the report also calls for education reforms to ensure future generations of scientists are sufficiently prepared to work in a highly interdisciplinary sector. Specifically, postgraduate courses in systems biology should be created or extended.
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), have already started to address the problem with a series of initiatives, spending millions in the process. However, the report called for more to be done such as establishing several new centres of excellence for systems biology research that would address education problems and allow UK research in the field to be consolidated.
The centres would be created within leading universities and also networked to smaller centres in other universities. The report also said that it is "essential that centres seek collaborations with industry and the National Health Service to ensure that projects of high national economic importance receive priority."
Professor Richard Kitney, the other joint chair of the working group, added: "Funding in the UK has recently been increased but is hampered by an overall lack of specialists in the required disciplines. To grasp this exciting opportunity further resources must be committed now."
