At its Sept. 29 Meeting, the George Mason University Board of Visitors approved the creation of the School of Systems Biology within the College of Science.  The School results from the merger of the Department of Molecular and Microbiology and the Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology.  

Dean Vikas Chandhoke of the College noted that "this new structure positions us to pursue a broader academic agenda that will address the intellectual needs of our students and allows us to develop the interdisciplinary advantage that is a hallmark of modern scientific education and research."  

Evolving from narrower and narrower study of biological elements, perhaps most famously the human genome, scientists have come to appreciate that a key opportunity exists to learn how complex biological systems behave in a more holistic way.  For example, genes code instructions for the formation of proteins, which regulate cells that form communities and organisms, but how do these genes, proteins and cells interact to make one individual susceptible to a disease while another is not?

Solving such questions requires advanced high-throughput experimental techniques, such as those pioneered by the scientists at the Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine and experiments focused on pieces of these systems, coupled with advanced computational efforts, such as bioinformatics (e.g. data mining and analysis), computational biology (e.g. computer modeling). The ultimate objective it so gain insight, knowledge and understanding of the emergent properties of biological systems.  It is this interplay between experimental and computational approaches that is necessary to fully understand complex biological systems.  The payoffs are clear, as reflected initiatives at the National Institutes of Health which aim to use systems biology for infectious disease research and general medicine, as well as initiatives at the Department of Energy to use biological systems for energy, carbon sequestration and environmental remediation.

The new School brings together the Department of Molecular and Microbiology (MMB)  with the Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology into a new single entity, with a single management, budget and faculty.  The  School will offer three Masters degrees in Biology, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, and Bioinformatics, and two Ph.D. programs: Biosciences as well as Bioinformatics and Computational Biology.

The School will also house the Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine and the National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases.  The effective date for the School is Jan 1, 2011.