Figure 1. A science of integration and emergence.

High throughput technologies are now available to produce comprehensive molecular profiles of the genome, the transcriptome, the proteome and the metabolome (metabolites). Systems biology provides a framework to model and infer molecular interactions and their organization into pathways, and subsequently into signaling networks at the cellular, tissue and organ system levels (endocrine, brain/nervous and immune systems). Interactions among these body systems give rise to phenotypic changes that correlate with observable pathologies (top) such as sickness behavior, depression, etc…. Likewise, modifications to behavior as a result of external stressors can modulate the balance of cellular and intracellular signaling.