Interdisciplinary research and education at the biology-engineering-computer science interface: a perspective

Progress in the life sciences, including genome sequencing and high-throughput experimentation, offers an opportunity for understanding biology and medicine from a systems perspective. This 'new view', which complements the more traditional component-based approach, involves the integration of biological research with approaches from engineering disciplines and computer science. The result is more than a new set of technologies. Rather, it promises a fundamental reconceptualization of the life sciences based on the development of quantitative and predictive models to describe crucial processes. To achieve this change, learning communities are being formed at the interface of the life sciences, engineering and computer science. Through these communities, research and education will be integrated across disciplines and the challenges associated with multidisciplinary team-based science will be addressed.