BBA - Gene Regulatory Mechanisms
System Biology – Genetic Networks
Edited by A. Cameron and P. Oliveri
Volume 1789, Issue 4, Pages 247-374 (April 2009)

Although the expressed sequences in genomes and the regions that control them make up only a few percent of the total, the functional consequences of the interaction between these components are immense. The transcription factors that regulate the expression of a gene and the signaling cascades that activate these DNA binding proteins are the most fundamental machinery of this process. Ultimately transcription factor binding sites organized into cis-regulatory modules that integrate inputs are the hard-wired objects in the genome that are inherited and thus evolve. The new approaches of systems biology promise to transform that which in the past has been lists of known components into genuine functional biology. The use of the systems approach has facilitated the move to the examination of networks from a focus on single members of a molecular process. Here we consider the gene networks that constitute the development from both empirical and theoretical viewpoint. The reports that make up this special edition provide a route to navigate through the complex structures of gene networks and their evolution, and offer the possibility that generalities will emerge to organize this complexity.