The Institute for Systems Biology was co-founded in 2000 by Alan Aderem, Ruedi Aebersold, and Leroy Hood. In just five years it has grown to more than 300 staff members, including 14 faculty members and their laboratory groups. This pioneering approach to the study of biological systems takes place in the institute's 65,000-square-foot facility in Seattle.

Building a new kind of research institute — one that can tackle the multi-disciplinary challenges of systems biology – requires a strategy that itself integrates many sciences including biology, chemistry, physics, computation, mathematics and medicine. Because the field of systems biology requires the seamless integration of these disciplines, ISB has developed a philosophy, an environment, and an administrative structure that transcends traditional organizational and disciplinary barriers. Scientists collaborate across their specialties to leverage knowledge and expertise with others at the Institute and in academia and industry.