Traditional biology has focused on identifying individual genes, proteins and cells, and studying their specific functions

Traditional biology has focused on identifying individual genes, proteins and cells, and studying their specific functions. But that kind of research can yield relatively limited insights about the whole organisms, including the human body. As an analogy, if one wanted to study an airplane, and focused on identifying the engine, wings, and seat belts, and studied their specific functions, one would have no real understanding of how an airplane operates. More importantly, one would have no understanding of how to effectively service the airplane when something malfunctions. So too, a traditional approach to studying biology and human health has left us with a limited understanding of how the whole organisms operate, and how we can best predict, prevent, or remedy potential health problems. As a result, traditional biological/medical researchers have had a limited success in curing genome-related (complex) diseases such as cancer, HIV AIDS, and diabetes.