In aerobic tissues such as heart, brain, kidney, liver and brown fat, mitochon- dria account for more than 20% of cell protein and play an essential role in res- piration, ATP formation, ketogenesis, gluconeogenesis, amino acid metabolism, ureagenesis, thermogenesis and a variety of other metabolic activities. The mecha- nisms by which these activities are integrated and regulated within the overall context of cellular physiology is of much current research interest. In order to bring together scientists examining the various diverse aspects of this overall pro- blem, an International Conference on INTEGRATION OF MITOCHONDRIAL FUNC- TION was held June 4-7, 1987 at the Hanes Art Center on the campus of the Uni- versity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The chapters of this volume derive from presentations made at this conference. The focus of INTEGRATION OF MITOCHONDRIAL FUNCTION is on signifi- cant new experimental and theoretical advances concerning integration of mito- chondrial function at the organelle, cell, tissue and whole organism levels of organization.

In aerobic tissues such as heart, brain, kidney, liver and brown fat, mitochon- dria account for more than 20% of cell protein and play an essential role in res- piration, ATP formation, ketogenesis, gluconeogenesis, amino acid metabolism, ureagenesis, thermogenesis and a variety of other metabolic activities. The mecha- nisms by which these activities are integrated and regulated within the overall context of cellular physiology is of much current research interest. In order to bring together scientists examining the various diverse aspects of this overall pro- blem, an International Conference on INTEGRATION OF MITOCHONDRIAL FUNC- TION was held June 4-7, 1987 at the Hanes Art Center on the campus of the Uni- versity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The chapters of this volume derive from presentations made at this conference. The focus of INTEGRATION OF MITOCHONDRIAL FUNCTION is on signifi- cant new experimental and theoretical advances concerning integration of mito- chondrial function at the organelle, cell, tissue and whole organism levels of organization.

Systems biology is a vigorous and expanding discipline, in many ways a successor to genomics and perhaps unprecedented in its combination of biology with a great many other sciences, from physics to ecology, from mathematics to medicine, and from philosophy to chemistry. Studying the philosophical foundations of systems biology may resolve a longer standing issue, i.e., the extent to which Biology is entitled to its own scientific foundations rather than being dominated by existing philosophies.
* Answers the question of what distinguishes the living from the non-living
* An in-depth look to a vigorous and expanding discipline, from molecule to system
* Explores the region between individual components and the system