歷史沿革
在人類基因定序計畫完成後，生命科學的發展邁入了一個新的時代。在人類染色體總長度約三十億個鹼基對、約兩萬五仟個基因中，因為人類基因定序的完成，讓科學家們可以從全基因的宏觀視野來檢視生命現象。因此後基因體時代的各種高通量分析 (high-throughput screen) 的生物科技蓬勃發展，包括了基因體學 (genomics)、轉錄體學 (transcriptomics)、蛋白體學 (proteomics) 及代謝體學 (metabolomics) 等。隨著多方面”體學”規模研究世代之來臨，生命科學的發展越來越著重資訊學上的需求，用於整合大量產生的量化資料數據，以及利用數學模式來模擬系統等級的關連性與複雜性。因此整合各種”體學”大量資料，並且利用數學模式來分析探討的系統生物學，則越來越重要。
近年來，系統生物學在生物醫學及生物研究領域中受到了廣泛的注意，透過系統生物學研究的進展，不僅讓研究學者們以全面性的方式了解生物體的發展和運作機制，改變科學家們對複雜的生命現象的看法。同時也促成來自不同領域的科學家共同致力，整合不同數據資料來解決最困難的生物問題。因此，系統生物學的發展將為許多創新性的生物研究與科技研發展建立基礎。
台灣大學「系統生物與生物資訊學研究中心」已於2006年6月成立，隨後於2006年12月與中研院合組一個跨領域、跨院校的研究團隊，執行「計算生物學先導型研究計畫」，其研究成果豐碩。除此之外，本中心也曾與中研院以及成大合作，共同提出為期三年的「以自動知識擷取為基礎之計算功能性蛋白質體」跨領域群體計畫。中心不僅成功整合校內生物資訊與生物醫學研究領域的合作，在生物資訊學領域的研究也累積相當成果，包括成功研發多套最先進的生物資訊軟體，並在全世界都有一定的使用者在使用由中心研發的軟體。因此透過中心多年來的運作，不論在生物資訊或是整合生物醫學領域上，中心都扮演著非常重要的角色。
為了持續保持尖端研究力和全球競爭力，本中心意識到需要以更全面的方向補足傳統研究方法之迫切需要，必須充分利用系統生物學所建構的大量資料數據分析平台與生物資訊的方法，來整合台大校園中近年來已陸續完成或計畫建構中的諸多 體學”相關研究設備。因此，本中心於99年度正式更名為「系統生物學研究中心」，並同時進行重整，除了維持現有的生物資訊計算研究外，也和生命科學院合作，納入校園內相關”體學”研究設備，如基因及轉錄體學、蛋白體學、代謝體學，以及影像分析等研究核心實驗室，讓中心不僅對數據進行資訊分析，更可以和實驗室緊密合作，透過實驗來驗證模式預測的結果，而實驗室所得之實驗數據，也可以透過系統性的整合分析，得到最佳的闡述，來回答複雜的生物議題，進而推導出生物系統的模型。
中心主任
2006年6月~ 2009年7月 歐陽彥正 教授
2009年8月~ 2012年7月 羅竹芳 教授
2012年8月~ 2013年7月 羅竹芳 教授
2013年8月~ 2016年2月 郭明良 教授
2016年3月~ 2021年7月 吳益群 教授
2021年8月~ 現今 阮雪芬 教授
History
Following the completion of the Human Genome Project, the life sciences entered a new era of development. With the human genome comprising approximately three billion base pairs and about 25,000 genes, the completion of human genome sequencing has enabled scientists to examine biological phenomena from a comprehensive, genome-wide perspective. Consequently, a wide range of high-throughput screening biotechnologies flourished in the post-genomic era, including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. With the advent of large-scale, multi-omics research, life science has increasingly emphasized informatics needs, particularly for integrating vast amounts of quantitative data and for using mathematical models to simulate system-level relationships and complexity. As a result, systems biology—which integrates large-scale omics data and employs mathematical modeling for analysis—has become increasingly important.
In recent years, systems biology has attracted widespread attention in biomedical and biological research. Advances in systems biology have enabled researchers to gain a holistic understanding of biological development and operational mechanisms, reshaping scientists’ perspectives on complex life phenomena. At the same time, it has fostered collaboration among scientists from diverse disciplines, integrating heterogeneous datasets to address the most challenging biological problems. Accordingly, the development of systems biology provides a foundation for many innovative biological studies and technological advancements.
The “Center for Systems Biology and Bioinformatics” at National Taiwan University was established in June 2006. Subsequently, in December 2006, the Center formed an interdisciplinary, inter-institutional research team with Academia Sinica to carry out the “Computational Biology Pilot Research Program,” which yielded substantial research outcomes. In addition, the Center has collaborated with Academia Sinica and National Cheng Kung University to jointly propose a three-year interdisciplinary consortium project entitled “Computational Functional Proteomics Based on Automated Knowledge Extraction.” The Center has not only successfully integrated collaborations in bioinformatics and biomedical research across the NTU campus, but has also accumulated significant achievements in bioinformatics, including the development of multiple state-of-the-art bioinformatics software tools that are used by researchers worldwide. Through years of operation, the Center has played a vital role in both bioinformatics and the integration of biomedical research.
To sustain cutting-edge research capacity and global competitiveness, the Center recognized the urgent need for a more comprehensive approach to complement traditional research methodologies. This requires fully leveraging the large-scale data analysis platforms and bioinformatics methods established by systems biology to integrate the many omics-related research facilities that have been completed or are under development across the NTU campus in recent years. Accordingly, in 2010, the Center was officially renamed the “Center for Systems Biology” and underwent organizational restructuring. In addition to maintaining its existing bioinformatics and computational research, the Center also collaborated with the College of Life Sciences to incorporate campus-wide omics core facilities, including genomics and transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and imaging analysis. This integration enables the Center not only to perform data-driven informatics analyses, but also to work closely with experimental laboratories to validate model predictions through experiments. Experimental data generated by laboratories can, in turn, be systematically integrated and analyzed to provide optimal interpretations of complex biological questions, ultimately leading to the derivation of biological system models.
Center Directors
• June 2006 – July 2009: Professor Yen-Jen Oyang
• August 2009 – July 2012: Professor Chu-Fang Lo
• August 2012 – July 2013: Professor Chu-Fang Lo
• August 2013 – February 2016: Professor Ming-Liang Kuo
• March 2016 – July 2021: Professor Yi-Chun Wu
• August 2021 – Present: Professor Hsueh-Fen Juan