Systems biology: will it work?

Systems biology describes the collection of a set of measurements on a system, integrated with a mathematical model of that system. The model and the measurements must be made together and refined iteratively, requiring close collaboration between biologists and modellers. A complete cell is probably too large and complicated to model yet, but simplified subsystems will probably produce valuable results. I consider various ways of simplifying the system and conclude that the biggest challenge is to get everyone working together productively.