ABSTRACT
Agriculture, ecology and environmental science have used empirical, phenomenological models of organisms for decades (Thornley and Johnson, 2000). These models are often refined through the incorporation of experimental data, but there continues to be a limited ability to connect the phenotypes of interest to the underlying molecular networks contained within each cell. The construction of a truly multi-scale model aims to finally connect genotype and phenotype in a quantitative and predictive manner. This is the focus of ‘integrative biology’. Integrative biology is so called because, in addition to the essential results of systems biology, it requires an equally thorough knowledge of the relevant biochemistry, biophysics, cell biology, physiology, ecophysiology and the interactions of an organism with its environment. It therefore attempts to integrate results across the entire range of biologically relevant disciplines. This goal is very ambitious and may take decades to fully realize.
