How is EigenBio Different?

EigenBio takes a holistic view of the whole adaptive immune system. We think about the immune system as a networked system response, looking at the critical interplay of the many facets of the immune response.

Systems biology is not the same as traditional immunology. Immunology has largely been approached as an experimental problem, in which variables are necessarily fixed. But this fails to recognize the fuzzy logic and multivariate interactions that contribute to outcome. Experimental approaches can yield results which, while correct in one set of circumstances and variables, may mislead in a larger context, or be unrepeatable.

The immune system is like social networking. The immune response to microbiome, self, pathogens, and environment function as an interactive network. Immune responses depend not just on specific signal recognition, but also on signal sharing, signal frequency, prior exposure and the host genetics.

Big data enables a high-level view that reveals patterns of activity impossible to see at a bench or experimental level.