ISSSB-International Summer School on Systems Biology
The Systems Biology approach to discover marine life:
from a big eye to a microscopic picture
27-30 October 2025
Biological systems are complex networks of biological entities such as organs, tissues, cells, organelles, macromolecular complexes, and regulatory pathways at a macro scale.
Oceans represent a perfect example of a biological system made of a huge number of interconnected biodiverse systems, both as species and as niches. Understanding how their connections result in its health and equilibrium requires a wide approach, looking at it from all the possible angles.
Systems biology aims to provide a comprehensive view of the biological systems using an interdisciplinary integrated approach from different scientific areas and technological, experimental and informatic skills.
Based on this holistic view, the school aims to provide participants basic and advanced knowledge on Biodiversity, Ecological interactions, Evolutionary Genomics and Omic disciplines, to be used as an integrated approach applied to oceans for EcoEvoDevo studies and Biotech Applications.
Programme
Monday 27/10/2025
08:30-09:00 Registrations;
09:00-09:15 Welcome by the SZN President and the Organizers
Session: Biodiversity and Ecological interactions
Chair: Dr. Angela Sardo
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09:15-10:00 Prof. Chris Bowler:
Tara Oceans: Eco-Systems Biology for the Global Ocean;
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10:00-10:45 Prof. Ferdinando Boero: The ocean makes the world work.
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10:45-11:15 Coffee break
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11:15-12:00 Dr. Domenico D'Alelio: Invisible Connections: Network Thinking in Plankton Ecology;
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12:00-13:45 LUNCH break + student ideas exchange chat (Chairs: 2 Students)
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Practical Session
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13:45-17:00 Prof. Boero:
Planktologisms.
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17:00 Visit at DaDoM
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18:00 Social activity-Aperitif
Tuesday 28/10/2025
Session: Omics approach for Systems Biology
Chair: Dr. Valeria Di Dato
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09:15-10:00 Prof. Klaas Vandepoele:
Omics technique: fundamental tools in the Systems Biology approach;
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10:00-10:45 Dr. Luca Ambrosino: Comparative genomics: sequence alignments and functional annotations.
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10:45-11:15 Coffee break
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11:15-12:00 Dr. Lucia Campese: Ocean Omics.
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12:00- 13:45 LUNCH break + student ideas exchange chat (Chairs: 2 Students)
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Practical Session
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13:45-17:00 Vandepoele K., Campese L., Ambrosino L.
Omics technique: practical exercise.
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17:00 Visit of the Aquarium​
Wednesday 29/10/2025
Session: Evolutionary Genomics and EcoEvoDevo
Chair: Dr. Rossella Annunziata
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09:15-10:00 Dr. Juan Pascual-Anaya: Evolution of the vertebrate genome;
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10:00-10:45 Dr. Giacinto De Vivo:
Protein Evolution;
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10:45-11:15 Coffee break
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11:15-12:00 Dr. Periklis Paganos:
Evolution of developmental regulatory program from a single cell perspective.
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​12:00- 13:45 LUNCH break + student ideas exchange chat (Chairs: 2 Students)
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Practical Session
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13:45-17:00 Dr. J. Pascual-Anaya, Annunziata, De Vivo, Paganos:
Practice on dedicated software.
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​17:00-19:00 Output of the brainstorming activities carried out during the school: ideas to apply the Systems Biology approach. Students will form two groups, discuss the points, and present the output.
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19:30 Social (Neapolitan Pizza) dinner (not included in the fee)
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Thursday 30/10/2025
Session: Biotech applications/Synthetic biology
Chair: Dr. Ida Orefice
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09:15-10:00 Dr. Giovanna Romano:
The chemical language linking marine ecology to applied sciences;
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10:00-10:45 Dr. Monia Teresa Russo:
From transformation to targeted editing: tools and applications in microalgal genetic engineering;
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10:45-11:15 Coffee break
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11:15-12:00 Dr. Gerardo Della Sala:
Linking genomics and metabolomics to explore metabolic diversity of marine bacteria.
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12:00-13:00 LUNCH
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Practical Session
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13:45-17:00
Gerardo Della Sala: An introduction to genome mining using antiSMASH;
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Monia Teresa Russo: To be defined
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