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Systems engineering without an engineer: Why we need systems biology

In this review, we address the justification for creating a new scientific discipline, and suggest possible goals for systems biology. We argue that systems biology is distinct from genomics and bioinformatics, as well as older disciplines such as medicine, evolutionary biology, and traditional molecular biology. Systems biology has the potential to address questions about the quantitative behavior and design of biological systems, which are not the central focus of other areas of biology. We discuss spontaneously arising biological oscillators as an example of a phenomenon that requires a systems-biological explanation. We also argue that there is, from evolutionary biology, an emerging view of organisms as “poorly oiled machines,” and that systems biology is needed to understand and predict the behavior of organisms that have not been rationally constructed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity, 2007