Fig 1.
In the two leftmost panels, we depict the hierarchy of biological organization, from molecules and genes to ecosystems.
Each level of the hierarchy reflects an increase in organizational complexity, with each level being primarily composed of the previous level’s basic units. Middle panels illustrate how the study of interactions between infectious disease agents and their hosts differs across the biomedical, public health, and ecological sciences. Specifically, biomedical sciences typically focus on lower- and medium-scale levels of biological organization (e.g., molecules, genes, and organs). In contrast, public health and ecological sciences typically focus on medium- and higher-scale levels of organization (individual, population, community, ecosystem, and environment). The filled circles and solid lines connecting the circles illustrate key cross scale biological interactions studied within each field. The right panel shows example knowledge gaps that can emerge from the “typical” segregation of research activities across the three fields. To better integrate our understanding of the causes and consequences of zoonotic infectious diseases, researchers must begin focusing on these types of missing links.
Table 1.
Examples of zoonotic disease systems in which cross scale research has contributed to key insights about infection dynamics.