Editorial

This special issue contains 8 selected papers from the Third International Conference on Foundations of Systems Biology in Engineering (FOSBE 2009), which took place August 9??12, 2009 at the Inverness Hotel and Conference Center in Englewood, Colorado. The primary objectives of FOSBE 2009 were to provide an in-depth review and critical assessment of the current state-of-the-art, to discuss current and future needs of research, education and training, and to identify new directions, opportunities and challenges in systems biology. An important aim of FOSBE 2009 was to bring together and foster interactions among worldrenowned experts from academia, industry and government.