ABSTRACT
I. Introduction Biologists who strive to understand the basic mechanisms underlying complex systems like the nervous and immune systems must first reduce them to their component parts and study them in a controlled environment. Those investigating the pathophysiogical characteristics of complex diseases such as bronchial asthma are, however, not always afforded this luxury. In aiming to understand the mechanisms behind such conditions, investigators need also to consider the admonishment of the physiologist that systems do not function independently, but rather are integrated.
