Reviews in Evolutionary Systems Biology

The field of Evolutionary Systems Biology stands at the intersection of evolutionary theory and systems-based analyses, offering powerful new perspectives for understanding the dynamic complexity of biological systems. By integrating high-dimensional data, computational models, and evolutionary frameworks, researchers have begun to reveal how interactions at the molecular, cellular, individual, and ecological levels shape patterns of adaptation and biodiversity. Despite remarkable advances, key challenges persist in drawing equivalencies between micro- and macro-evolutionary processes, unraveling the genetic basis of complex traits, and predicting organismal and ecosystem responses to rapid environmental change. A growing body of studies now employs systems biology not only to map genetic networks and evolutionary pathways but also to tackle critical issues such as climate change impacts, robustness and epistasis, and the mathematical properties of phylogenetic trees.

Recent evidence underscores the value of interdisciplinary approaches that link evolutionary mechanisms with systems-level analyses, such as machine learning applied to genomics, comparative phylogenetic frameworks, and network modeling to describe robustness, pleiotropy, and evolutionary significance. Investigations into evolutionary health, combinatorics across tree spaces, and network-level patterns exemplify the breadth of the field. Nevertheless, the fragmentation of findings across sub-disciplines and the rapid development of new methods underscore the need for synthesized, critical overviews that clarify current understanding and identify pressing knowledge gaps. Comprehensive reviews are essential to distill insights, promote interdisciplinary collaboration, and set future research agendas.

This Research Topic aims to provide a curated platform for authoritative review articles that synthesize current knowledge, evaluate recent advances, and chart future directions across the spectrum of Evolutionary Systems Biology. The goal is to foster scholarly dialogue, bridge disciplinary divides, and accelerate the translation of complex systems approaches into impactful evolutionary research.

To gather further insights in the scope of Evolutionary Systems Biology, this Research Topic welcomes mini reviews, systematic reviews, and full reviews exploring a wide range of themes, including but not limited to:

• Biodiversity conservation and management employing systems and evolutionary approaches

• Cellular, tissue, or individual-level studies situated within evolutionary systems biology

• Climate change questions examined through transdisciplinary evolutionary frameworks

• Comparative phylogenetic analyses and advances in phylogenomics

• Comprehensive understanding of mutational effects on systems and evolutionary dynamics

• Health-related research integrating evolutionary and systems biology perspectives

• Mathematical properties and combinatorics of phylogenetic trees

• Network-level patterns, robustness, epistasis, and pleiotropy in evolution

• Development and application of statistical and machine learning models in phylogenomics

• Synthesis of systems biology questions using biological and evolutionary data

Manuscript types considered include mini reviews, systematic reviews, and full reviews, each offering in-depth and critical perspectives that advance our understanding of Evolutionary Systems Biology.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Evolutionary systems biology, phylogenomics, network robustness, epistasis, pleiotropy, comparative phylogenetics, climate change adaptation, machine learning in genomics, biodiversity conservation, evolutionary health

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.