Who will take up the gauntlet?: Challenges and opportunities for systems biology and drug discovery

The impression that systems biology is something new--the next big thing in science has led almost unavoidably to a measure of hype in the lay, financial and industry media, which in turn has elicited responses ranging from deep scepticism to blind enthusiasm. However, the concepts of systems biology are not new; many agree that the foundations were laid by the work of Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley in the 1950s on ion channels and nerve impulses (Hodgkin & Huxley, 1952). Current awareness of what is systems biology has increased largely through its application to tackle biological complexity.