Our group focuses on answering biological questions in the spirit of Systems Biology and Systems Chemistry, tackling key questions by computational and analytical tools. We run the GeneCards® suite integrative interface for human gene information, based on a genome overview. This leads to the development of relevant genome medicine tools and databases employed by 6 million users worldwide. In parallel, our group studies the Origin of Life with a Systems Protobiology approach, promoting the "Lipid World" scenario we have established over two decades. The computer-simulated model we have developed provides evidence that the earliest self-reproducing and evolving entities were lipid assemblies, most likely catalytic nanoscopic micelles, which could grow and divide, propagating compositional information from one generation to another. This unorthodox view constitutes an alternative to the more popular RNA-first scenario for life’s origin.
Systems Biology and Protobiology
