Systems biology meets -omic technologies: novel approaches to biomarker discovery and companion diagnostic development

The next generation of biomarkers and companion diagnostics will require the development of technologies capable of conjugating the advances in high-throughput techniques in biology with computational methods. Systems biology is poised to contribute through an integrated view, capturing the complexity of the system, both in terms of a collection of interacting molecular components and also in terms of multiple intersecting views. Following this system-centered view, novel approaches have been developed for the identification of signatures of both disease processes and drug modes of action with the promising perspectives of better diagnosis of disease and of the discovery of more efficacious and safe drugs. The application of systems biology to the development of companion diagnostics is very recent and to date a few pioneering steps have been made in this direction. In this review, we describe the ongoing studies and the potential developments in this area of research.