Systems Biology & Systems Medicine
An independent primer on systems biology, network motifs, physiological circuit fragilities, the Periodic Table of Diseases, and quantitative approaches to aging.
3 modules · 9 lessons · 1h · mastery threshold 80
Watch videos free — no sign-inBackground for Research in the Uri Alon Lab This independent educational primer introduces scientific concepts relevant to research themes in the Uri Alon Lab at Weizmann Institute of Science. It is not an official Weizmann Institute of Science or Uri Alon Lab course and does not imply endorsement or affiliation. For ambitious high-school students and early undergraduates. Video-first lessons with concise written companions. Approximately one hour with assessments; mastery-only certificate eligibility at 80%, without a capstone or Research Defense.
Module 1
From complex biology to circuits, dynamics, experiments, and design principles.
Module 2
Function, design, fragility, and disease in physiological circuits.
Module 3
Disease patterns, damage removal, and inference of tissue dynamics.
Bistability and inflammatory/fibrotic circuit dynamics
Interpret alternative stable states and history dependence in fibrosis models.
Dynamical compensation and hormone feedback
Explain dynamical compensation in glucose-insulin models.
Fast signaling versus slow tissue adaptation
Distinguish fast hormone signals from slow gland-mass adaptation.
Feed-forward loops and autoregulatory circuit functions
Predict conditional functions of feed-forward loops and negative autoregulation.
Feedback, mutant surveillance, and physiological fragility
Distinguish feedback hypotheses from universal explanations of autoimmunity.
Fixed points, stability, nonlinearity, and experiment
Test fixed-point stability and predictions against dynamic measurements.
Function → design → fragility → disease
Treat disease fragility as a testable systems-medicine hypothesis.
Gompertz mortality and quantitative aging patterns
Interpret approximate population mortality patterns.
Inferring tissue dynamics from spatial snapshots
Explain model-based inference of tissue dynamics from spatial snapshots.
Minimal dynamical models and ordinary differential equations
Interpret production-minus-removal ordinary differential equations.
Network motifs and randomized null models
Compare motif counts with a degree-preserving randomized null model.
Periodic Table of Diseases framework
Read the periodic table as a systems-medicine teaching framework.
Recurrent disease classes from circuit fragilities
Use tissue-design patterns to formulate limited disease hypotheses.
Robustness and circuit-level explanation
Distinguish robustness of one function from robustness of every property.
Saturated removal model and damage accumulation
Distinguish saturating damage removal from a universally established aging mechanism.
Systems biology and biological design principles
Explain biological behavior through interacting components and dynamics.
Systems medicine and physiological circuit design
Relate physiological function to circuit design.
Systems-level prediction in aging and medicine
Interpret population heritability and predictive findings within their assumptions.