Aimed at postgraduate students in a variety of biology-related disciplines, this volume presents a collection of mathematical and computational single-cell-based models and their application. The main sections cover four general model groupings: hybrid cellular automata, cellular potts, lattice-free cells, and viscoelastic cells. Each section is introduced by a discussion of the applicability of the particular modelling approach and its advantages and disadvantages, which will make the book suitable for students starting research in mathematical biology as well as scientists modelling multicellular processes.

Computational biology, mathematical biology, biology and biomedicine are currently undergoing spectacular progresses due to a synergy between technological advances and inputs from physics, chemistry, mathematics, statistics and computer science. The goal of this book is to evidence this synergy by describing selected developments in the following fields: bioinformatics, biomedicine and neuroscience. This work is unique in two respects - first, by the variety and scales of systems studied and second, by its presentation: Each chapter provides the biological or medical context, follows up with mathematical or algorithmic developments triggered by a specific problem and concludes with one or two success stories, namely new insights gained thanks to these methodological developments. It also highlights some unsolved and outstanding theoretical questions, with a potentially high impact on these disciplines. Two communities will be particularly interested in this book. The first one is the vast community of applied mathematicians and computer scientists, whose interests should be captured by the added value generated by the application of advanced concepts and algorithms to challenging biological or medical problems. The second is the equally vast community of biologists. Whether scientists or engineers, they will find in this book a clear and self-contained account of concepts and techniques from mathematics and computer science, together with success stories on their favorite systems. The variety of systems described represents a panoply of complementary conceptual tools. On a practical level, the resources listed at the end of each chapter (databases, software) offer invaluable support for getting started on a specific topic in the fields of biomedicine, bioinformatics and neuroscience.

This book on mathematical modeling of biological processes includes a wide selection of biological topics that demonstrate the power of mathematics and computational codes in setting up biological processes with a rigorous and predictive framework. Topics include: enzyme dynamics, spread of disease, harvesting bacteria, competition among live species, neuronal oscillations, transport of neurofilaments in axon, cancer and cancer therapy, and granulomas. Complete with a description of the biological background and biological question that requires the use of mathematics, this book is developed for graduate students and advanced undergraduate students with only basic knowledge of ordinary differential equations and partial differential equations; background in biology is not required. Students will gain knowledge on how to program with MATLAB without previous programming experience and how to use codes in order to test biological hypothesis.

An introduction to the mathematical concepts and techniques needed for the construction and analysis of models in molecular systems biology. Systems techniques are integral to current research in molecular cell biology, and system-level investigations are often accompanied by mathematical models. These models serve as working hypotheses: they help us to understand and predict the behavior of complex systems. This book offers an introduction to mathematical concepts and techniques needed for the construction and interpretation of models in molecular systems biology. It is accessible to upper-level undergraduate or graduate students in life science or engineering who have some familiarity with calculus, and will be a useful reference for researchers at all levels. The first four chapters cover the basics of mathematical modeling in molecular systems biology. The last four chapters address specific biological domains, treating modeling of metabolic networks, of signal transduction pathways, of gene regulatory networks, and of electrophysiology and neuronal action potentials. Chapters 3–8 end with optional sections that address more specialized modeling topics. Exercises, solvable with pen-and-paper calculations, appear throughout the text to encourage interaction with the mathematical techniques. More involved end-of-chapter problem sets require computational software. Appendixes provide a review of basic concepts of molecular biology, additional mathematical background material, and tutorials for two computational software packages (XPPAUT and MATLAB) that can be used for model simulation and analysis.

Volume II of this two-volume, interdisciplinary work is a unified presentation of a broad range of state-of-the-art topics in the rapidly growing field of mathematical modeling in the biological sciences. Highlighted throughout are mathematical and computational apporaches to examine central problems in the life sciences, ranging from the organization principles of individual cells to the dynamics of large populations. The chapters are thematically organized into the following main areas: epidemiology, evolution and ecology, immunology, neural systems and the brain, and innovative mathematical methods and education. The work will be an excellent reference text for a broad audience of researchers, practitioners, and advanced students in this rapidly growing field at the intersection of applied mathematics, experimental biology and medicine, computational biology, biochemistry, computer science, and physics.

Mathematical and computational modeling approaches in biological and medical research are experiencing rapid growth globally. This Special Issue Book intends to scratch the surface of this exciting phenomenon. The subject areas covered involve general mathematical methods and their applications in biology and medicine, with an emphasis on work related to mathematical and computational modeling of the complex dynamics observed in biological and medical research. Fourteen rigorously reviewed papers were included in this Special Issue. These papers cover several timely topics relating to classical population biology, fundamental biology, and modern medicine. While the authors of these papers dealt with very different modeling questions, they were all motivated by specific applications in biology and medicine and employed innovative mathematical and computational methods to study the complex dynamics of their models. We hope that these papers detail case studies that will inspire many additional mathematical modeling efforts in biology and medicine