Rationale and Vision
Biology is at the threshold of a new world. New technologies allow insights
into the functioning of biological systems with a clarity and resolution
unimaginable just a decade ago. Large-scale, high-throughput methodologies
permit the simultaneous measurement of thousands of features of a cell
or organism. Mathematical and computational tool development aids in the
collection, storage, analysis, visualization and interpretation of very
dense datasets. Miniaturization and new materials render it possible to
sense and diagnose conditions within living organisms or in vitro, using
minute amounts of biological material. Microfluidics and labs on chips
have the potential of advancing biology in a similar manner as microchips
have triggered the ongoing revolution in electronics. Early successes
in synthetic biology are offering a glimpse of how our sharpened understanding
of biological phenomena may be translated into novel biotechnological
options for producing and manipulating valuable organic compounds.
The combination of these complementary avenues of endeavor and its implementation
in multidisciplinary research ventures will synergistically revolutionize
our understanding of biology and it applications to human life and disease,
the sustainable production of food, and our means of stewardship for the
environment. It is evident that no researcher alone is capable of mastering
the entire spectrum of parent disciplines. Rather, teams of laboratories
with diverse expertise will propel modern "integrative" biology forward.
As in a physiological system, each team member will contribute in her
or his own specific way, and true innovation will result from this synergism.
The recognition of the need for flexible, adaptable multidisciplinary
teams has significant consequences for the structure and organization
of education and research in biology, which no longer can be delegated
to a single traditional biology department, but must reach out to computer
scientists, mathematicians, physicists, engineers and other quantitative
scientists. An immediate corollary is that no student can be taught all
of integrative biology and that the instructional goals must shift toward
educating the next generation of researchers to become masters of a particular
scientific niche and, at the same time, to develop the capacity to communicate
easily across disciplines. This type of education requires new modes of
learning and access to multi- and interdisciplinary research opportunities
that span departments, centers, and even colleges.
Cognizant of these needs, Georgia Tech is in the process of creating the
Integrative BioSystems Institute (IBSI). This Institute will consolidate
and foster multi-level research, from the sub-cellular to the physiological
and clinical levels, along with educational opportunities offered by several
schools within Georgia Tech and by partner institutions within and outside
the State of Georgia. Integrative biological systems studies will never
replace traditional hypothesis-driven and reductionistic biological research,
which has propelled our knowledge of biological phenomena forward in unprecedented
ways. Instead, IBSI will add genuine benefit to Georgia Tech, its partners,
and the State of Georgia by providing a research infrastructure positioned
to respond effectively to the grand biomedical challenges of the 21st
Century. IBSI will facilitate the education of a new cadre of biological
systems analysts by offering a broad roster of course work at the participating
universities, as well as "exchange" rotations focusing on modeling and
data analysis for experimentally oriented students and on experimental
investigations for theoretically and computationally oriented students.
IBSI will educate superb students from diverse backgrounds and provide
outreach through topical seminars, conferences, a visiting scholar program,
and opportunities for sharing the excitement of biomedical research with
the community.