Systems and Synthetic Biology Applied to Health

The change in interest from identifying individual molecules to several components in biological samples as well as how they interact is addressed by systems biology. Mathematical, statistical, and computational methods have emerged to deal with the biological complexity exposed in past years by the massive production of high-throughput data through "omics" technologies. This chapter discusses powerful mathematical networks and modeling to identify key components related to rheumatoid arthritis and how to predict the response of different individuals to infections. As the consequence of a better understanding of biological processes, this chapter also presents the creation of new specific devices to diagnosis, treat, and prevent diseases. These nonnatural systems, produced by the insertion of genetic devices into a cell or cell-free systems, or even by editing a genome, are part of the synthetic biology field. The use of synthetic molecules or systems is discussed as attempts to diagnosis and treat cancer, Lyme disease, Ebola, and human immunodeficiency virus, among others. The chapter describes a diversity of ways in which systems and synthetic biology may help understand and control diseases.