Background

Following the recruitment of Charlie Hodgman to the Chair in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology early in 2004, the University of Nottingham invested £0.77m in establishing this multidisciplinary centre. MyCIB staff were recruited over an 18-month period and have made a major contribution during the first two years of activity. Major research and training activities have been initiated and collaborations now exist with a range of academic and industrial research organisations around the world.

Multidisciplinary

This emerging science demands a new approach to teaching and research. The classical divisions within academic research are too restrictive. Integrative Biology spans many disciplines, taking tools and ideas from mathematics, computing, medicine, chemistry and from many areas of the biological sciences. MyCIB was formed to be a bridge between these different groups, fostering cross disciplinary collaborations to enable us to explore this new frontier.

The Integrative Biology Concept

Integrative biology advances our understanding of biological phenomena through the close collaborative efforts of laboratory and theoretical scientists, who develop mechanistic mathematical models that identify gaps in biological knowledge and propose hypotheses for laboratory testing. The laboratory results lead iteratively to refined models that have predictive value, such as the interactions between diet and health, or improving drug efficacy while minimizing adverse reactions. The modelling integrates phenomena at different physical scales or incorporates different branches of physics (e.g. biochemical thermo-dynamics, with fluid dynamics and materials science). The approach is analogous to that between experimental and theoretical physicists. Some of the most advanced mathematical modelling carried out so far has been by the Virtual Heart project. See also the Physiome project for details of other related projects.

Developing Data Standards

One potential barrier to collaborative research is the lack of common standards for the computational representation of data. One of our aims will be to contribute to the development of data standards to facilitate the sharing of data, models, and analytical methods.

Achievements

• Nottingham has received BBSRC/EPSRC funding for a Centre for Plant Integrative Biology, whose computing activities fall within the MyCIB infrastructure. CPIB's initial aim is to develop multiscale models of Arabidopsis root growth.
• MyCIB hosts the Localisation of Organelle Proteins by Isotope Tagging (LOPIT) database, developed by Dr Kathryn Lilley's team in the Cambridge Centre for Proteomics.
• Commencing in 2005, MyCIB manages new Master's degrees in Integrative Biology and post-genomic technologies (Transcriptomics, Protemics and Metabolomics Sciences).