Biological systems attain their functionality through the activity of multiple interacting elements, the distribution of which ranges over many orders of magnitude in both space and time. To a large extent, the means by which the functionality of these networks develops and evolves in relation to the environment is still a mystery. The Laboratory for Network Biology Research, comprising researchers from four Technion faculties (Medicine, Physics, Electrical Engineering and Chemical Engineering), aims at developing an experimental and theoretical framework for the study of biological networks, with particular emphasis on general mechanisms that allow for robust, yet adaptive, functionality in complex environments. Our research is centered on two experimental systems originating from different areas of biology, and on a theoretical effort to develop a universal approach to network biology, which, while aiming at basic principles, is cognizant of the particularities of specific systems.
The NBRL were set up in June 2007, and comprise researchers from different faculties, all located together in a single wing of Fishbach building. This cooperative setting of researchers from multiple disciplines working together in a single space is atypical of the Technion. The researchers in the center consist of the following individuals. Professors Erez Braun from Physics, Naama Brenner from Chemical Engineering, Omri Barak, Shimon Marom , Noam Ziv and Danny Eytan from Medicine, and Ron Meir and Daniel Soudry from Electrical Engineering.