The study was requested of the NRC’s Board on Life Sciences by NSF, NIH, and DOE To examine the current state of biological research in the U.S. and recommend how best to capitalize on recent technological and scientific advances that have allowed biologists to integrate biological research findings, collect and interpret vastly increased amounts of data, and predict the behavior of complex biological systems
A New Biology Initiative— Finding Solutions to Major Society Needs Sustainable food production Protection of the environment Renewable energy Improvements in human health
The New Biology is: Integration & Reintegration into Biology of Physicists Chemists Computer scientists Engineers Mathematicians
The New Biology Integrates Life Sciences Research with Physical sciences Engineering Computational sciences Mathematics
The New Biology is expected to: Address those opportunities that cannot be addressed by any one discipline or agency Contribute to advances across the life sciences
The New Biology Not intended to replace research going on now Does not mean bringing experts together into the same facility to work on larger projects
Goal of the New Biology in Health Make it possible to monitor each individuals health and treat in a manner tailored to that indivdual Individualized predictive medicine
The New Biologist Not a scientist that knows a little about all disciplines Has a deep knowledge of one discipline and a working knowledge of several
Premise of the New Biology: The life sciences has the potential to provide a set of tools and solutions that can significantly increase options available to deal with society’s problems
Promise of the New Biology— Understanding living systems at the systems level, e.g., How the first cells came to be How the brain works How the parts of a living system operate together in organisms and ecosystems
The New Biology Now Poorly recognized Inadequately supported Delivering only a fraction of its potential