From Molecules to Organisms: Towards Multiscale Integrated Models of Biological Systems

A consensus has recently emerged that further progress in understanding human physiopathology will demand integrative views of biological systems. In this context, complex systems and related interdisciplinary approaches of biology are expected to help. The aim of this collective paper is basically to provide a starting point for further discussions and interactions within the community of complex systems biologists. After briefl y introducing some general concepts, we present four major challenges that should be tackled in the next years. These represent future directions that we isolated as priority concerns for modern biology. Suggestions of how to reach these destinations are provided, with the hope that they will soon lead to concrete advances towards fully consistent multiscale models of biological systems and a better understanding of physiopathology.