VCU Biological Complexity

This new scientific philosophy and its practical and technological ramifications are uniquely manifested in the realm of the biological and biomedical sciences. Ecologists and environmental scientists were the first life scientist to embrace these concepts because global measurements of whole systems are feasible at a macromolecular level. Now, the new discoveries in genomics and proteomics permit cell biologists to study systems globally, and cellular and molecular biologists are poised to apply of the power of the principles of complexity. These principles can be applied to study systems at many levels; including subcellular, organellular, cellular, tissue or organismal. The advent of low cost high-speed and highly parallel computational devices has made it possible to model, in silico, the self-organization, emergent and adaptive properties, as well as the hierarchical positions of biological systems.

These studies are, of necessity, multidisciplinary in nature and must be conducted in the environment of a well-organized team or consortium. Such an organization is the Center for the Study of Biological Complexity – an essential part of a modern comprehensive university – that includes research, education, scholarship, and technological progress.

The Mission.
The mission of the Center is to apply the principles of complexity science to contemporary biological and biomedical problems in all aspects of research and scholarly activity. The Center focuses its efforts on the development of interdisciplinary biomedical research and scholarly activities that appreciate and capitalize on the growing power of discovery science and systems biology.