Technological Aspects of Systems Biology 2.1. Bioanalytical Technologies Academic Perspective: Institute for Systems Biology

The omic technologies have been reviewed extensively elsewhere, and their fundamentals will not be described herein. Suffice it to say that DNA microarrays generate large data sets relevant to gene expression and genetic variation (primarily SNPs [single nucleotide polymorphisms]); mass spectrometry and gel electrophoresis generate smaller, but still extensive, data sets for protein expression; nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometry provide modestsized data sets for metabolite levels in living systems; and yeast twohybrid assays and mass spectrometry provide data on protein-protein interactions. The remainder of this section deals with how these bioanalytical modalities have been combined in systems biology to provide the multifaceted data sets that act as inputs for the sophisticated computational systems, which generate models for further hypothesis generation.