The Human Body: the ultimate frontier of complexity
A human being is a complex biological system consisting of billions of cells, molecules and processes. These determine how quickly we age, what diseases we get, and when we die.
By employing the latest technologies, researchers are now trying to understand the human system as a whole, and to trace the processes in our bodies all the way from genes to proteins to a finished cell. The knowledge gained will help develop new therapies for serious diseases such as skin cancer, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease or Alzheimer's. The documentary "The Human Body: the ultimate frontier of complexity" shows how researchers obtain their knowledge with the help of robots, computer chips and super-resolution microscopes.
The SystemsX.ch initiative was launched to promote systems biology research, and since 2007 it has supported around 250 interdisciplinary research projects at the interface between biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, medicine, engineering and computer science.