Abstract
This review discusses the use of systems biology in understanding the biological effects of electromagnetic fields, with particular focus on induction of genomic instability and cancer. We introduce basic concepts of the dynamical systems theory such as the state space and attractors and the use of these concepts in understanding the behavior of complex biological systems. We then discuss genomic instability in the framework of the dynamical systems theory, and describe the hypothesis that environmentally induced genomic instability corresponds to abnormal attractor states; large enough environmental perturbations can force the biological system to leave normal evolutionarily optimized attractors (corresponding to normal cell phenotypes) and migrate to less stable variant attractors. We discuss experimental approaches that can be coupled with theoretical systems biology such as testable predictions, derived from the theory and experimental methods, that can be used for measuring the state of the complex biological system. We also review potentially informative studies and make recommendations for further studies.
Highlights
Health and disease are states of the human body, i.e., a biological system
The majority of systems biologists fall in the former category, and for them systems biology involves the study of large-scale molecular interactions such as gene networks through the integration of multilevel data and models
We focus on induced genomic instability and its role in cancer as cancer is a major issue in the discussion of the health effects of electromagnetic fields
Summary
Health and disease are states of the human body, i.e., a biological system. It might seem obvious that systems biology is needed in understanding environmental health effects. The term “systems biology” has been widely used only fairly recently for various approaches focusing on complex biological systems It started to emerge as a distinct field of science with the advancement of high throughput omics technologies and with the improving capability of constructing computational models of complicated systems. The majority of systems biologists fall in the former category, and for them systems biology involves the study of large-scale molecular interactions such as gene networks through the integration of multilevel data and models. The problem with this approach is that it is essentially reductionist and hinders research on system-level phenomena [3]. We will discuss the use of systems biology (the systems-theoretic approach) in understanding genomic instability and carcinogenesis, its application to theoretical and experimental studies on the effects of electromagnetic fields, and future directions of the systems biology of electromagnetic fields
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
