This is the ultimate triumph of the reductionist approach. While the reductionist approach has served biology well, it makes little sense to reduce biology beyond the level of the gene. The primary problem now becomes relating genes to complex biological function. The genome is a static, linear sequence of information, while physiology is a complex, non-linear system that interacts with the environment. Biological discovery and the use of biological information will depend increasingly on understanding how cells and organisms function as systems.
Engineering education emphasizes the integration of components into systems.
This system perspective will be a necessary element in relating a knowledge of gene sequences to function. Biologists and engineers working together have an opportunity to begin to understand the design rules of life.