Biosimulation in Drug Development: Martin Bertau, Erik Mosekilde, Hans V. Westerhoff
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PublisherName
: BioMed Central
PublisherLocation
: London
PublisherImprintName : BioMed Central
Biosimulation in Drug Development: Martin Bertau, Erik Mosekilde, Hans V. Westerhoff John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, UK, 978-3-527-31699-1, 2007, 540, Hardback; £110.00/E154.00 ArticleInfo
ArticleID
: 210
ArticleDOI
: 10.1186/1479-7364-3-1-98
ArticleCitationID
: 98
ArticleSequenceNumber : 1 ArticleCategory
: Book review
ArticleFirstPage
: 1
ArticleLastPage
: 4
ArticleHistory
:
RegistrationDate : 2008–9–1 OnlineDate
: 2008–9–1
ArticleCopyright
: Henry Stewart Publications2008
ArticleGrants
:
ArticleContext
: 402463311
Michael PH Stumpf,Aff1
Corresponding Affiliation: Aff1 Aff1
Division of Molecular Biosciences Centre for Bioinformatics Imperial College London, London, UK
Mathematical modelling has a longstanding place in the biomedical sciences. In particular, mathematical and statistical methods have been instrumental in the development of the disciplines of population genetics and ecology. But over the past 50 or so years there have always been some researchers who have studied biological processes and systems at all levels of organisation, using mathematical and quantitative theoretical methods. The recent rise of the fledgling discipline of systems biology has now, perhaps somewhat belatedly, introduced a wave of mathematical and modelling approaches into the molecular, cellular and physiological sciences. The popularity -- among researchers as well as funding bodies -- of systems biology approaches may well change the biomedical sciences and the training of life- and biomedical scientists profoundly.
There is a common perception that systems biology research must necessarily involve large teams of researchers, drawn from a variety of complementary backgrounds. In general, this may well be so, particularly in basic and fundamental research. At the applied end, however, it may be possible to conduct proper and leading systems biology research on a much smaller scale. Biosimulation in Drug Development offers several examples where endeavours at the cottage-industry level may provide valuable contributions to the applied side of systems biology. The volume, carefully edited by Martin Bertau, Erik Mosekilde and the indefatigable Hans Westerhoff, has a distinctly theoretical focus, but this is appropriate, as the development of new drugs is one of the areas in modern biomedical research where complications abound, and where mathematical models may be most helpful. The physiological basis of many diseases is only slowly beginning to emerge. Genetic differences among individuals from different ethnic origins, and within populations, give rise to a spectrum of drug response phenotypes. Safe dosages are still predominantly determined in a system of careful trial and error. And to get it wrong can have tragic outcomes for patients and carries huge financial risk for pharmaceutical companies. The book covers the panoply of modelling applications in drug development. After a brief, and perhaps too
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