Topics and Expertise: biological systems

Thinking like engineers has transformed a new wave of UCSF scientists into systems experts who use big computers and big technology to ask the biggest question of all: How does life work? A new field called systems biology looks at how all components of biological systems work together.

Some people see a future populated by billions of mechanical micromachines, robots no bigger than a speck of dust that are programmed to do our bidding. UCSF School of Pharmacy researcher Christopher Voigt, PhD sees a different future. He sees living micromachines that can be engineered into a new...