F1000Research (May 2024)

Systems Biology in ELIXIR: modelling in the spotlight [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]

  • Katharina F. Heil,
  • Anze Zupanic,
  • Chris T. Evelo,
  • Carole Goble,
  • Kristel Van Steen,
  • Tadeja Rezen,
  • Hans V Westerhoff,
  • Rahuman S. Malik Sheriff,
  • Maria Suarez Diez,
  • Henning Hermjakob,
  • Marco Pagni,
  • Damjana Rozman,
  • Barbara Szomolay,
  • Miguel Rocha,
  • Jasper Koehorst,
  • Alexey Kolodkin,
  • Victoria Dominguez Del Angel,
  • David Šafránek,
  • Dirk Fey,
  • Ilja Arts,
  • Rui Benfeitas,
  • Vitor Martins dos Santos,
  • Mihail Anton,
  • Marek Ostaszewski,
  • Ulrike Wittig,
  • John M. Hancock,
  • Brane Leskošek,
  • Katherine Wolstencroft,
  • Martin Golebiewski,
  • Wolfgang Müller,
  • Polonca Ferk,
  • Kristina Gruden,
  • William T. Scott,
  • Elena Domínguez-Romero,
  • Martina Kutmon,
  • Maria I. Klapa,
  • Sébastien Moretti,
  • Pascal Kahlem

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11

Abstract

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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.

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