Using a systems biology approach to study host-pathogen interactions

Investigations into the mechanisms that influence interactions between microbes and their hosts have exploded over the past ~50 years. These approaches have led to a significantly greater understanding of how pathogens infect their hosts. Data from these experiments can influence therapeutic interventions and aid public health-mediated disease control on local and global scales. Progress in this field has been significant, driven by breakthroughs in several other areas, including molecular biology, biochemistry, immunology, cell biology, and genomics. Each of these independent areas has been underpinned by parallel breakthroughs in laboratory techniques alongside advances in the supporting computational biology (bioinformatics). Progress is ongoing in all of these fields and is continuing apace. Such progress is particularly important as a response to new infection-related threats, such as antimicrobial resistance and the emergence and/or discovery of new pathogens, which challenge our ability to maintain the disease control status quo (1-3).