International Conference on Stochastic Processes in Systems Biology, Genetics and Evolution

William Marsh Rice University, Houston TX

Investigators

Abstract

The International Conference on Stochastic Processes in Systems Biology, Genetics and Evolution, to be held at Rice University on August 21-25, 2012, will focus on emerging trends within the field of systems biology with a focus on the statistical methodologies and probability models that are most valued within the field. Special attention will be given to emerging challenges in systems biology, such as exploring the role of cancer stem cells in tumor development and progression, characterizing the systems pathways in inflammation which trigger sepsis, models of antibiotic resistance, and many other challenges in genetics and evolution. Symposia Topics: Systems Biology, Genetics and Evolution: New Challenges for Stochastic Dynamics Stochastic Processes for New Biology, Stochasticity of Cell Differentiation and Cell Fates, Stochastic Models of Cancer, Stochastic Gene Expression and Intracellular Signaling Pathways, Self-Organization, Epigenetics & Evolution, Branching Processs in Population Biology and Genetics, Stochastic Theory for Biochemical Systems. Junior researchers, students and under-represented groups are offered travel and subsistence assistance. Recent years witnessed an explosion of biological data, which allow accurate insight into functioning of living beings at the levels ranging from genetic code to biomolecules, cells, tissues and organisms. Due to these new data, it became possible to understand how different levels of organization (scales) of living beings interact. This new science is called systems biology. From the very outset, systems biology has been more mathematically inclined than traditional disciplines of biology. In particular, it is attempting to understand the role randomness (or stochasticity) plays in functioning of living beings. For example, how is it possible that individual biological cells respond in very different ways to environmental stimuli, whereas the organism as a whole is capable of mounting a coherent response? Answers to this and other related questions are the subject of the conference.