Systems Biology in ELIXIR: modelling in the spotlight

F1000Res. 2022 Nov 7:11:ELIXIR-1265. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.126734.2. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

In this white paper, we describe the founding of a new ELIXIR Community - the Systems Biology Community - and its proposed future contributions to both ELIXIR and the broader community of systems biologists in Europe and worldwide. The Community believes that the infrastructure aspects of systems biology - databases, (modelling) tools and standards development, as well as training and access to cloud infrastructure - are not only appropriate components of the ELIXIR infrastructure, but will prove key components of ELIXIR's future support of advanced biological applications and personalised medicine. By way of a series of meetings, the Community identified seven key areas for its future activities, reflecting both future needs and previous and current activities within ELIXIR Platforms and Communities. These are: overcoming barriers to the wider uptake of systems biology; linking new and existing data to systems biology models; interoperability of systems biology resources; further development and embedding of systems medicine; provisioning of modelling as a service; building and coordinating capacity building and training resources; and supporting industrial embedding of systems biology. A set of objectives for the Community has been identified under four main headline areas: Standardisation and Interoperability, Technology, Capacity Building and Training, and Industrial Embedding. These are grouped into short-term (3-year), mid-term (6-year) and long-term (10-year) objectives.

Keywords: Biological data; Biomolecular Models; Biotechnology; ELIXIR Communities; FAIR; Network Biology; Systems Biology; Systems Medicine.

Grants and funding

The ELIXIR Greece Node was funded by the grant EPAnEk-NSRF 2014-2020 ELIXIR-GR project (MIS 5002780).