From functional genomics to systems biology.

This review discusses the talks presented at the third EMBL Biennial Symposium, From functional genomics to systems biology, held in Heidelberg, Germany, 14-17 October 2006. Current issues and trends in various subfields of functional genomics and systems biology are considered, including analysis of regulatory elements, signalling networks, transcription networks, protein-protein interaction networks, genetic interaction networks, medical applications of DNA microarrays, and metagenomics. Several technological advances in the fields of DNA microarrays, identification of regulatory elements in the genomes of higher eukaryotes, and MS for detection of protein interactions are introduced. Major directions of future systems biology research are also discussed.