Physiome

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The physiome of an individual's or species' physiological state is the description of its functional behavior. The physiome describes the physiological dynamics of the normal intact organism and is built upon information and structure (genome, proteome, and morphome). The term comes from "physio-" (life) and "-ome" (as a whole). In its broadest terms, it should define relationships from genome to organism and from functional behavior to gene regulation. In context of the Physiome Project, it includes integrated models of components of organisms, such as particular organs or cell systems, biochemical, or endocrine systems.

The Physiome Project is a worldwide effort to define the physiome through the development of databases and models which will facilitate the understanding of the integrative function of cells, organs, and organisms. The project is focused on compiling and providing a central repository of databases, linking experimental information and computational models from many laboratories into a single, self-consistent framework. This coalescence of research effort will promote comprehensive databases and an integrative, analytical approach to the study of medicine and physiology.

Research initiatives related to the Physiome include: