Talk:Systems biology

Beginning Edit

I plan to update/edit this article in stages as time permits. Anthony.Sebastian 14:57, 17 December 2006 (CST)

Regarding Chris Day's Removal of Externals Links

Chris, you say you're not sure we need the external links to labs and conferences in the 'Systems Biology' article. I feel strongly that they add to the quality of the article. For example, clicking on the link to the Institute for Systems Biology provides the reader with additional depth on the goals and approaches in the discipline not contained in the CZ article, examples of application, and webcasts. CZ gains that at little cost in space or distraction.

Moreover, those labs and conferences abound with experts in many fields, as systems biology operates as an interdisciplinary discipline. Whether those experts discover the CZ article linking to their sites, or we apprise them of the article (or related articles) as potentially benefitting from their expertise, CZ may have a chance of gaining their participation in the project.

I would suggest a comprise: Let's leave the links in, and I will go through each one, eliminating those sites that offer the reader little or no added-value to the main "Systems Biology' article.

Thanks for considering this.

Anthony.Sebastian 13:18, 19 December 2006 (CST)

I am fine with such a compromise, especially if you feel strongly. I would suggest that an exhaustive list is not appropriate. I suppose the original reason for those lists were the novelty factor of systems biology. Such a list would not be considered for a more mature branch of biology so we should keep that in mind too. Chris Day (Talk) 15:36, 19 December 2006 (CST)

Chris, wil keep your suggestions in mind as I edit lists.Anthony.Sebastian (Talk) 13:21, 20 December 2006 (CST)

Added section: On the Nature of Biological "Systems"

It seemed me to make the article on 'Systems Biology' more intelligible to the general reader to say something about what systems biologists mean when they speak of 'systems'. I tried to cover just the main points, and to exemplify them. Comments, sggestions, etc., welcomed.

Anthony.Sebastian (Talk) 14:19, 19 December 2006 (CST)

Work Done and Needed

So far I have re-written the Introduction--though still not completly happy with it--including incorporating one in-text citation, and have written a new section, following the Introduction, to elucidate the meaning of biological systems, giving examples.

I think the "History" section important to an ultimate grasp of systems biology as a major discipline of biology. It needs fleshing out with a description of the several historical roots converging to modern systems biology. I have begun the re-write offline, and plan to make that my next contibution to the article. Anthony.Sebastian (Talk) 14:25, 23 December 2006 (CST)

Hi Anthony. I've dropped a section into this that I wrote for the Vitalism article; it is more appropriate here - I thought the references would be helpful for you to retain even if you want to dismantle the section, if you do that's fine with me. The new vitalism idea has been picked up in a few more recent articles, but is tangential. There's a great quote from Sydney Brenner around that would be perfect - I'll try to find it again Gareth Leng 14:40, 23 December 2006 (CST)

P.S. Hodgkin and Huxley's model was of action potential propagation - not really a nerve cell model (they modelled propagation not initiation of action potentials).Gareth Leng 14:52, 23 December 2006 (CST)

• Gareth: Very nicely done piece on 'emergence'. The concept definitely needs cogent/lucid explication with examples if we want to reach the reader, and it seems apposite for this article. I will check out your references. I will have to convince myself of the wisdom of introducing the term 'vitalism', but I have an open mind. Glad to have someone with your level of expertise and experience working on the article, and to have someone to get feedback from. Anthony.Sebastian (Talk) 21:32, 23 December 2006 (CST)