About this Research Topic

Background

Technological advancement occurs when technologies or applied sciences become more precise, accurate, efficient, or more powerful or capable. Scientific and technological advancements have made many important changes throughout history, some better than others. Our objective is to spotlight the multifaceted applications of Systems Biology, Synthetic Biology, and Bioinformatics at the intersection of technological advancements to address several challenges. This includes, but is not limited to:

Computational Biology, Software, and AI: AI promises to bring a new level of computational power to Systems Biology and Bioinformatic processes. We’re looking to present studies involving computational, bioinformatics and software innovations for Systems Biology.

Data Visualization: AI, software, and bioinformatics have allowed us to better conceptualize and visualize complex data. We encourage submissions where Visualization is a primary strategy used by researchers both to explore data and to communicate new insights such as submissions that explore the utilization of 3D printing as a tool for enhancing the understanding of complex structures or design studies documenting how visual encoding has been tailored in new software applications to address specific data analysis.

Space Exploration: Systems Biology and Synthetic Biology can tackle the challenges astronauts will face in the coming years, from closed-loop life support systems, radioprotection (of humans, plants and microorganisms), medicine and human health, space agriculture to biological sensors. It is important to think about how space-related solutions could be used back on Earth. Even though space exploration is exciting, the technology and ideas that come out of it can often be applied in useful ways here at home.

Exemplary iGEM Projects:
2023 iGEM MunichBioinformatics (Germany) was nominated for the Best Software & AI Project award for developing graph-based deep learning algorithms applied to polypharmacy - associated with a decline in the patient's health outcomes - hypergraphs and chemical language models to predict the effects of cross talk between multiple drugs. Emphasizing its application to systems pharmacology.

2023 iGEM Fudan (China) won the Best Software Tool award for developing tools to support the transmutation of Martian rocks into fertile soil. Through modular design, they constructed a biofilm with extreme tolerance, autotrophic survival, physical structure, and rock weathering function, marking a bold stride toward a viable homeland on terrestrial planets intersecting the fields of Systems Biology and Synthetic Biology.

2023 iGEM Evry-Paris-Saclay (France) was nominated for the Best Software Tool award for creating tools to support the development of light-sensitive microbial opsins designed to rejuvenate the human retina's capacity to perceive and respond to light, ultimately allowing restoration of vision. Their software enables them to overcome the challenges of performing large amounts of experiments, with AI capabilities to run experiments on specialized hardware with as little human intervention as possible, while providing an intuitive interface, including vocal commands assistance.

Learn more about iGEM Projects .

Scope:
This Research Topic encourages submissions from the iGEM community and researchers around the globe who work in areas intersecting Systems Biology, Synthetic Biology, AI, software, Bioinformatics, and technological advancements. Investigators who pioneer the development of potent technologies integrating these fields are particularly encouraged to submit their research. We invite researchers to share their findings in the form of original research, reviews, perspectives, technology and code, or methods.

Please note manuscripts that intersect fields can be considered for Frontiers in Systems Biology, manuscripts that allow for the visualization of complex biological data will be considered for Frontiers in Bioinformatics, and manuscripts that are a purely synthetic without a systems or integrative approach (i.e. at multiple levels/scales/time points or using multiple methods such as multi-omics, or intersecting multiple fields) will be considered in our newly launched Frontiers in Synthetic Biology. Those Please see our 2023 iGEM collection for an idea of systems level papers.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Software, AI, Data Visualization, Space, Synthetic Biology, Systems Biology, iGEM, Bioinformatics

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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