From Director’s Desk

The Institute of Systems Biology (INBIOSIS) was established on the 24th of March 2005 based upon a strong background in plant biotechnology. The mission of its establishment was to widen the scope and strengthen plant biotechnology research in Malaysia by incorporating systems biology approach. Systems biology spearheads the advancement of high-throughput molecular biology research in producing piles of omics data. This has brought biological research to the next level of data-intensive science and contributes to the big data scenario. This marriage of biology and computer science integrated with other disciplines such as statistics, mathematics, physics and chemistry helps us to better understand the complexity of biological phenomenon.

In conjunction with this, systems biology comprises big data biology, network biology, and new branches of modern biology. These advancements facilitate systems-level understanding of cell and its components towards holistic understanding on the organisms at various levels of functions and mechanisms. Consequently, it is vital for the validation purposes that computational approaches be combined with laboratory experiments. However, this is currently challenging as analysing big molecular data and complex enormous biological networks still require human interpretation.

INBIOSIS aims to undertake these tasks with multidisciplinary academics and technical experts working on omics platforms along with strategic partnerships with the industry locally and internationally. Our multidisciplinary and collaborative ethos aim to provide excellent environment making findings from basic science useful for practical applications. INBIOSIS pledges to provide the ultimate environment to encourage scientific collaboration that stretches across disciplines, agencies and geographical borders. We encourage intellectual freedoms that we believe will inspire a collective drive to achieve excellence. Furthermore we aim to contribute to the society via knowledge and technology transfer and educating the next generation of scientists. INBIOSIS strives to undertake cutting edge systems biology approach to unravel biological processes and networks that lead to exciting molecular discovery. The key planks of our work include research into biodiversity discovery, food security, human well being and sustainable products which are in line with UKM chosen SDGs namely SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well Being), SDG 14 (Life Below Water) and SDG 15 (Life on Land). Our fundamental scientific discoveries and technologies will enable new lines of research that advance our understanding of molecular mechanisms and hopefully to enable innovations in other sectors.

Prof. Dr. Syarul Nataqain Baharum
Director