# Systems biology
## MicroSim spec
### Parameters (tunable controls)
- `Gene/protein nodes` · 3–30 · components in the regulatory network
- `Reaction rate` · 0–5 · rate constant for network edges
- `Degradation` · 0–2 · decay rate of each species
### What animates
Nodes in a regulatory network pulse as concentrations rise and fall over time.
### Learning objective
Show how a regulatory network's rates and decay shape species dynamics.
## Links (Wikipedia order)
<!-- injected from _registry/childlinks/Systems_biology.json (2026-07-30T02:09:12Z) -->
`Abiogenesis` · [[Adaptation]] · `Adenosine_triphosphate` · `Aerobiology` · `Agronomy` · `Agrostology` · `Alan_Turing` · [[Alexander_Bogdanov]] · [[Allenna_Leonard]] · `Amino_acid` · [[Anatol_Rapoport]] · `Anatomy` · `Animal` · `Animal_testing_on_rodents` · [[Anthony_Wilden]] · `Anthropology` · `Archaea` · `Astrobiology` · `Atom` · `Bacteria` · `Bacteriology` · [[Barbara_J._Grosz]] · `BioSystems` · `Biochemical_systems_equation` · `Biochemistry` · `Biochip` · `Biocoenosis` · `Biodiversity` · `Biogeochemical_cycle` · `Biogeography` · `Biogeology` · [[Bioinformatics]] · [[Biological_engineering]] · `Biological_interaction` · `Biological_organisation` · [[Biological_system]] · `Biology` · `Biomarker` · `Biomass` · `Biome` · `Biomechanics` · `Biophysics` · `Biosemiotics` · `Biosphere` · `Biostatistics` · `Biotechnology` · `Botany` · `Breathing` · [[Béla_H._Bánáthy]] · [[C._West_Churchman]] · `Cancer_genome_sequencing` · `Cancer_systems_biology` · `Cancer_treatment` · `Carbohydrate` · `Cell_(biology)` · `Cell_biology` · `Cell_cycle` · `Cell_signaling` · `Cell_theory` · `Cellular_microbiology` · [[Cellular_model]] · `Cellular_respiration` · [[Charles_A._S._Hall]] · `Chemical_biology` · `Chemical_bond` · [[Chemical_element]] · `Chemical_kinetics` · `Cheminformatics` · `Chemogenomics` · `Chromosome_conformation_capture` · `Chronobiology` · `Circulatory_system` · [[Claude_Shannon]] · `Climate` · `Climate_change` · `Cognitive_biology` · `Cognitive_genomics` · `Common_name` · `Community_(ecology)` · `Comparative_biology` · `Comparative_genomics` · `Complex_network` · [[Complex_system]] · `Computational_biology` · `Computational_genomics` · `Computational_model` · [[Connectomics]] · `Conservation_biology` · `Constraint_programming` · [[Control_theory]] · [[Coupled_human–environment_system]] · `Cryobiology` · [[Cybernetics]] · `Cytogenetics` · `DNA` · `DNA_Data_Bank_of_Japan` · `DNA_methylation` · `DNA_microarray` · `Dendrology` · `Denis_Noble` · `Developmental_biology` · [[Differential_equation]] · [[Donella_Meadows]] · [[Doubling_time]] · `Earliest_known_life_forms` · [[Earth_system_science]] · `Ecological_genetics` · `Ecological_niche` · [[Ecology]] · `Economic_system` · [[Ecosystem]] · `Ecosystem_ecology` · [[Edsger_W._Dijkstra]] · [[Edward_Norton_Lorenz]] · `Electrospray_ionization` · `Embryology` · [[Emergence]] · `Endocrine_system` · [[Energy]] · `Enzyme` · `Enzyme_kinetics` · `Epidemiology` · `Epidermis_(botany)` · `Epigenetics` · `Epigenomics` · `Epitranscriptome` · [[Eric_Trist]] · `Eukaryote` · `European_Molecular_Biology_Laboratory` · [[Evolution]] · `Evolutionary_biology` · [[Evolutionary_developmental_biology]] · `Fermentation` · `Flower` · `Flux_balance_analysis` · `Fluxomics` · [[Francisco_Varela]] · `Fred_Emery_(psychologist)` · `Freshwater_biology` · `Function_(biology)` · `Functional_genomics` · `Fungus` · `Gene` · `Gene_expression` · `Gene_flow` · `Genetic_drift` · `Genetics` · `Genome` · `Genome_instability` · `Genome_project` · [[Genomics]] · `Genotype` · `Geobiology` · [[George_Dantzig]] · [[George_Klir]] · `Gerontology` · `Glycomics` · `Glycoproteomics` · [[Gregory_Bateson]] · `Ground_tissue` · `Habitat` · `Hallucination_(artificial_intelligence)` · [[Heinz_von_Foerster]] · `Helen_Byrne` · `Herpetology` · `High-performance_liquid_chromatography` · `High-throughput_screening` · `Hiroaki_Kitano` · `Histology` · `Histone_acetylation_and_deacetylation` · `History_of_biology` · `History_of_life` · [[Holism]] · [[Homeostasis]] · [[Howard_T._Odum]] · `Human_Connectome_Project` · `Human_Epigenome_Project` · `Human_Genome_Project` · `Human_Metabolome_Database` · `Human_Microbiome_Project` · `Human_biology` · `Human_digestive_system` · `Human_evolution` · [[Humberto_Maturana]] · `Ichthyology` · [[Ilya_Prigogine]] · `Immune_system` · `Immunology` · `Immunomics` · `In_silico` · `Index_of_biology_articles` · `Informatics` · `Information_extraction` · [[Information_system]] · `Interactome` · `Internal_environment` · `Introduction_to_evolution` · `Introduction_to_genetics` · [[James_Grier_Miller]] · [[James_J._Kay]] · `Jan_Smuts` · [[Jay_Wright_Forrester]] · [[Jennifer_Wilby]] · [[John_Seddon]] · [[Kathleen_Carley]] · [[Katia_Sycara]] · `Kenneth_E._Boulding` · [[Kevin_Warwick]] · `Leaf` · `Life` · [[Limiting_factor]] · `Lipid` · `Lipidology` · `Lipidomics` · `List_of_biology_journals` · `List_of_omics_topics_in_biology` · `List_of_systems_biology_modeling_software` · [[List_of_systems_sciences_organizations]] · `List_of_systems_scientists` · [[Living_systems]] · [[Loose_coupling]] · [[Ludwig_von_Bertalanffy]] · [[Lydia_Kavraki]] · `Macroevolution` · `Mammalogy` · [[Manfred_Clynes]] · [[Manuela_M._Veloso]] · [[Margaret_Boden]] · [[Margaret_Mead]] · `Marine_biology` · [[Mary_Cartwright]] · `Mass_spectrometry` · `Mathematical_and_theoretical_biology` · [[Mathematical_model]] · `Matter` · `Mechanism_(biology)` · `Mechanobiology` · `Meiosis` · `Mendelian_inheritance` · `Metabolic_network` · [[Metabolic_network_modelling]] · `Metabolism` · `Metabolome` · `Metabolomics` · `Metagenomics` · `Microbiology` · `Microbiome` · `Microevolution` · [[Mihajlo_D._Mesarovic]] · `Mike_Jackson_(systems_scientist)` · `Mitosis` · [[Modelling_biological_systems]] · `Molecular_biology` · `Molecule` · `Monomer` · [[Multi-agent_system]] · `Multiomics` · [[Murray_Bowen]] · `Muscular_system` · `Mutation` · `Mycology` · `National_Institutes_of_Health` · `Natural_selection` · [[Negative_feedback]] · `Neontology` · [[Nervous_system]] · [[Neuroscience]] · [[Niklas_Luhmann]] · `Nobel_Prize_in_Physiology_or_Medicine` · [[Norbert_Wiener]] · `Nucleic_acid` · `Nutritional_science` · `Omics` · `Oncogenomics` · `Organ_(biology)` · `Organelle` · `Organic_compound` · `Organism` · `Ornithology` · `Osteology` · `Outline_of_biology` · `PH` · `Paleontology` · `Paleopolyploidy` · `Paradigm` · `Parasitology` · `Pathology` · `Peer_review` · `Personal_genomics` · `Personalized_medicine` · [[Peter_Senge]] · `Pharmacogenomics` · `Pharmacology` · `Phenomics` · `Phenotype` · `Phloem` · `Phosphoproteomics` · `Photobiology` · `Photosynthesis` · `Phycology` · `Phylogenetics` · `Physiology` · `Physiome` · `Physiomics` · `Plant` · `Plant_stem` · `Polymer` · `Pomology` · `Population_(biology)` · `Population_ecology` · `Population_genomics` · [[Positive_feedback]] · `Post-transcriptional_modification` · `Primatology` · [[Principia_Cybernetica]] · `Prokaryote` · `Protein` · `Protein–protein_interaction` · `Proteome` · `Proteomics` · `Protist` · `Protistology` · [[Qian_Xuesen]] · `Quantum_biology` · `RNA-Seq` · `RNA_interference` · [[Radhika_Nagpal]] · [[Recommender_system]] · `Reductionism` · `Regulation_of_gene_expression` · `Reproduction` · `Reproductive_biology` · `Reproductive_system` · `Resource_(biology)` · `Respiratory_system` · `Root` · `Russell_L._Ackoff` · `Ruzena_Bajcsy` · `SBML` · [[Science]] · `Scientific_law` · `Scientific_method` · `Scientific_theory` · [[Self-replication]] · `Serial_analysis_of_gene_expression` · `Shoot_(botany)` · `Sign_relation` · `Signal_transduction` · `Social_system` · `Sociobiology` · `Sociogenomics` · [[Sociotechnical_system]] · `Sophia_Ananiadou` · `Spatial_biology` · `Speciation` · [[Stafford_Beer]] · [[Stephanie_Forrest]] · `Stimulus_(physiology)` · `Structural_biology` · `Structural_genomics` · [[Structure]] · `Synthetic_biology` · [[System]] · [[System_dynamics]] · `Systematics` · `Systemics` · `Systems_analysis` · `Systems_art` · [[Systems_ecology]] · [[Systems_engineering]] · [[Systems_neuroscience]] · [[Systems_pharmacology]] · `Systems_philosophy` · `Systems_psychology` · [[Systems_science]] · [[Systems_theory]] · `Systems_theory_in_anthropology` · [[Systems_theory_in_archaeology]] · [[Systems_theory_in_political_science]] · [[Systems_thinking]] · [[Talcott_Parsons]] · `Taxonomic_rank` · `Taxonomy_(biology)` · `Telomere` · `Teratology` · `Text_mining` · `Timeline_of_biology_and_organic_chemistry` · `Tissue_(biology)` · `Toxicogenomics` · `Toxicology` · `Transcriptome` · `Transcriptomics_technologies` · [[Twelve_leverage_points]] · `Two-dimensional_gel_electrophoresis` · [[Urban_metabolism]] · `Uri_Alon` · `Vascular_plant` · `Vascular_tissue` · `Victor_Aladjev` · `Virology` · `Virophysics` · `Virtual_Physiological_Human` · `Virus` · `Water` · `Weighted_correlation_network_analysis` · `Welfare_biology` · `Wellcome_Sanger_Institute` · `World-systems_theory` · `Xenobiology` · `Xylem` · `Zoology` · `Π-calculus`
## From the Real GENERATIVE library (beauty pass)
*Systems biology — image hotlinked from Wikimedia Commons (via the Real G.E.N.E.R.A.T.I.V.E. course library, Information room). [Details & license](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Genomics_GTL_Pictorial_Program.jpg).*
> Collective intelligence Collective action Self-organized criticality Herd mentality Phase transition Agent-based modelling Synchronization Ant colony optimization Particle swarm optimization Swarm behaviour ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_biology))
<!-- BEAUTY-PASS-MEDIA:END -->
> p5.js MicroSim stub · part of Systems Engineering · [Wikipedia source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_biology)
## Concept summary
Systems biology is the computational and mathematical analysis and modeling of complex biological systems. It is a biology-based interdisciplinary field of study that focuses on complex interactions within biological systems, using a holistic approach ([[Holism|holism]] instead of the more traditional reductionism) to biological research.
## Build checklist
- [ ] Claim it: set `status: in-progress` + `lease` + `leased_at`
- [ ] Write the child page explaining the concept (tie it back to Systems Engineering)
- [ ] Finalize parameter ranges and defaults
- [ ] Implement the p5.js sketch (drawing + control regions)
- [ ] Add caption + the learning objective on the page
- [ ] Set `status: done`
## p5.js sketch
```javascript
// MicroSim: Systems biology
const ARTICLE = "Systems_biology";
let p1, p2, p3;
function setup() {
createCanvas(720, 520);
pixelDensity(2);
// network-graph sim — create the three sliders described above:
// Gene/protein nodes (3–30), Reaction rate (0–5), Degradation (0–2).
// TODO: build labelled sliders in the control region (below the drawing region).
}
function draw() {
background(248);
// TODO: read p1/p2/p3; render the network-graph in the drawing region and respond live.
// TODO: HUD — title + en.wikitube.io/wiki/Systems_biology + control hints + live readouts.
}
```
---
Back to Systems Engineering
---
<!-- SEMIOTIC-PROFILE:START -->
## Semiotic profile
> *The semiotic universals this article invokes, machine-derived from the crossref — **unverified** (born so). Populated 2026-07-06 for the Systems room.*
**Universals (8):** 🟡 system (69) · 🟢 network (10) · 🟡 science (6) · 🟢 field (5) · 🟢 encoding (4) · 🟢 measurement (4) · 🟢 flow (2) · 🟢 exponential (2)
**Enter by sign:** Systems Semiotic Gateway · Alphabetum · Icon Registry · ← Systems Portal
<!-- SEMIOTIC-PROFILE:END -->
<!-- BEAUTY-PASS-MEDIA:START -->
## Wikipedia : Wikitube
**Strict pair:** [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_biology) : [Wikitube](https://en.wikitube.io/wiki/Systems_biology)
## Previous hub tags
Tree parents: [[Complex_system]] · [[Control_theory]] · [[Cybernetics]] · [[Emergence]] · [[Feedback]] · [[Information_theory]] · [[Operations_research]] · [[Reliability_engineering]] · [[Self-organization]] · [[System_dynamics]] · [[Systems_engineering]] · [[Systems_science]] · [[Systems_theory]].
Legacy hubs: none.
---
*Sources: 4 legacy notes. Minted wave 1, 2026-07-30 (v1.6 order).*