Systems biology definition

Alberghina, L. Westerhoff, H. V. Systems biology definitions and perspectives (Topics in current genetics), Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, 2005. 

Alberghina, L. and Westerhofif, H.V. eds. (2005) Systems Biology, Definitions and Perspectives (Topics in Current Genetics), (Berlin Springer-Verlag and Heidelberg GmbH Co. K.). 

The turnover frequency allows performance comparison between different catalyst systems, biological and/or non-biological. Its threshold is at 1 event per second per active site. According to the definition, a turnover frequency can be determined only if the number of active sites is known (Chapter 9, Section 9.2.3). For an enzyme reaction obeying Michaelis-Menten kinetics, Eq. (2.15) holds. 

This definition introduced by an industrial pharmaceutical scientist was obviously biased towards pharmaceutical applications. However, many years of research in multiple areas of chemistry, computational chemistry, chemo-metrics, molecular modeling, computer science and statistics, both before and after that publication, provide clear evidence that modern chemoinformatics appeals to almost any area of chemical research, including organic, physical, analytical chemistry and, more recently, systems biology. In this sense, following an early definition by G. Paris we describe chemoinformatics broadly... 

In the biological and biochemical literature the terms control and regulation are often used loosely as synonyms. In the precise analysis that is applied in systems biology, however, there is a need for a stricter definition of these terms. 

According to the United Nations (UN), sustainability (or more precisely sustainable development) is defined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (United Nations, Our Common Future). The UN has also defined sustainable use as a way in which the rate of use does not lead to the long-term decline of biological systems. These definitions are an excellent basis for any discussions about sustainability however, the lack of specificity of the definitions means the way in which they are applied to practical situations is very much dependent on how they are interpreted for specific activities or problems. 

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