Predictive Modeling and Integrative Physiology: The Physiome Projects

The fundamental paradigm in physiological research is integration. Biological researchers are now ready to define for a species a mathematical construct, the Physiome, the all-encompassing quantitative model of an organism. The goal of the human Physiome project is improved health care, through deep understanding of the organism, all the way down to the genes, reconciling contradictions and clarifying cause and effect. The strategies for accomplishing this long term aim include the systematic gathering of old and new knowledge into shared databases, and integrating the information into self consistent, reproducible, mathematical models. Multiscale models, for practicality, cover only a few levels at a time. Beginning at the middle level, the cell, where the knowledge base is largest and most secure, and the elements well defined as functional biophysical/biochemical modules, the plan is to work up to the organism level and down to the gene level, in the end providing clear linkages between phenotype and the genome.