| Physiology is the science of biological function, of how living things work. Research in physiology combines the search for understanding of function with strong emphasis on quantitative precision. What distinguishes the physiologist from other scientists is a primary interest in the relation of a structure or a chemical, physical, immunological or other biological reaction to the function of a biological system. Molecular biology explores the program for construction of macromolecules, biochemistry their structure and interrelation. Cell biology investigates individual cell types and their component parts, anatomy the structure of biological assemblies. Clinical medical sciences analyze disease processes and explore cures. Only physiology encompasses all of these, integrates them, and relates them to their role in the function of the molecule, the organelle, the membrane, the cell, the tissue, the organ, or the body.
The mission of the Program in Physiology at the Cornell University Graduate School of Medical Sciences is to develop scientists with an appreciation of biological function and the capabilities to extend our understanding of it.
Physiology in the Twentieth Century
Physiology as a discipline flourished during the latter part of the nineteenth and throughout the twentieth century, as findings in physical and biological science were combined with refinements of research instrumentation in order to make possible the quantitative exploration of living systems. Because of its close ties to the practice of clinical medicine, physiology was for many years the standard bearer among the basic medical sciences, as physiologists developed more and more powerful methods to measure and quantify function at the organismal, systemic, cellular and molecular levels. During this time, physiology, more than any other field of science, has grown by incorporating findings and techniques from biology, biophysics, chemistry, computer science, electronics, and physics. Moreover, the excitement of physiology attracted scientists trained in each of these other disciplines, recruiting them to the ranks of physiologists.
Toward the Twenty-First Century
Today's students will spend the greatest part of their professional and intellectual lives in the twenty first century. As physiology looks forward to the new century, the potential for important discoveries in our field has greatly increased by the explosive technological developments in molecular biology and the appearance of newer optical, electrophysiological and computational methods. These new techniques are matched by enhanced understanding in all aspects of biomedical science, presenting new missions and new goals to physiology without changing its goals or its characteristic precision. The need for continued intensive research in biological function has only been enhanced by the findings of the last century. Physiologists are increasingly effectively in asking how the coordinated interaction of molecules, organelles, and cells determines function at the tissue and organ level.
The combination of molecular biological and electrophysiological techniques is beginning to provide completely new insights into function at the molecular level. For example, we now have the tools to understand the molecular basis for regulation of membrane protein function, which is needed to understand disease processes and to design new pharmaceutical compounds. As the need to quantify function becomes more pressing, physiologists will lead in the advances in understanding function at all levels of complexity.
In this new century, medical science will increasingly be called upon to be quantitatively predictive. This development will largely be based on the integrative re synthesis of the knowledge obtained at the cellular and molecular level into mathematical models of function in health and disease. It also seems likely that the demands on functional experiments will increase with further advances in other fields, for example the development of transgenic animals and of non-invasive imaging methods that monitor the function of the body. And once the genome project gets under way, who but physiologists are equipped by training to assign function to the innumerable proteins that will be discovered?
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