Abstract

Considering biological systems at different levels of organization as complex networks in which nodes are each other connected by is a very natural way of reasoning. Network approach allows scientist to make sense of the intricacies of biological regulation and, for the same mathematical nature of graphs, to obtain a multilevel description linking single node and whole network topological features. This paradigm allows for the detection of a clear signature of robustness: the ability of a system to keep separate different scales of response to environmental stimuli. A case study on the immune system allows for an immediate appreciation of this point.