This textbook focuses on stochastic analysis in systems biology containing both the theory and application. While the authors provide a review of probability and random variables, subsequent notions of biochemical reaction systems and the relevant concepts of probability theory are introduced side by side. This leads to an intuitive and easy-to-follow presentation of stochastic framework for modeling subcellular biochemical systems. In particular, the authors make an effort to show how the notion of propensity, the chemical master equation and the stochastic simulation algorithm arise as consequences of the Markov property. The text contains many illustrations, examples and exercises to illustrate the ideas and methods that are introduced. Matlab code is also provided where appropriate. Additionally, the cell cycle is introduced as a more complex case study. Senior undergraduate and graduate students in mathematics and physics as well as researchers working in the area of systems biology, bioinformatics and related areas will find this text useful.

Although stochastic kinetic models are increasingly accepted as the best way to represent and simulate genetic and biochemical networks, most researchers in the field have limited knowledge of stochastic process theory. The stochastic processes formalism provides a beautiful, elegant, and coherent foundation for chemical kinetics and there is a wealth of associated theory every bit as powerful and elegant as that for conventional continuous deterministic models. The time is right for an introductory text written from this perspective. Stochastic Modelling for Systems Biology presents an accessible introduction to stochastic modelling using examples that are familiar to systems biology researchers. Focusing on computer simulation, the author examines the use of stochastic processes for modelling biological systems. He provides a comprehensive understanding of stochastic kinetic modelling of biological networks in the systems biology context. The text covers the latest simulation techniques and research material, such as parameter inference, and includes many examples and figures as well as software code in R for various applications. While emphasizing the necessary probabilistic and stochastic methods, the author takes a practical approach, rooting his theoretical development in discussions of the intended application. Written with self-study in mind, the book includes technical chapters that deal with the difficult problems of inference for stochastic kinetic models from experimental data. Providing enough background information to make the subject accessible to the non-specialist, the book integrates a fairly diverse literature into a single convenient and notationally consistent source.

Since the first edition of Stochastic Modelling for Systems Biology, there have been many interesting developments in the use of "likelihood-free" methods of Bayesian inference for complex stochastic models. Having been thoroughly updated to reflect this, this third edition covers everything necessary for a good appreciation of stochastic kinetic modelling of biological networks in the systems biology context. New methods and applications are included in the book, and the use of R for practical illustration of the algorithms has been greatly extended. There is a brand new chapter on spatially extended systems, and the statistical inference chapter has also been extended with new methods, including approximate Bayesian computation (ABC). Stochastic Modelling for Systems Biology, Third Edition is now supplemented by an additional software library, written in Scala, described in a new appendix to the book. New in the Third Edition New chapter on spatially extended systems, covering the spatial Gillespie algorithm for reaction diffusion master equation models in 1- and 2-d, along with fast approximations based on the spatial chemical Langevin equation Significantly expanded chapter on inference for stochastic kinetic models from data, covering ABC, including ABC-SMC Updated R package, including code relating to all of the new material New R package for parsing SBML models into simulatable stochastic Petri net models New open-source software library, written in Scala, replicating most of the functionality of the R packages in a fast, compiled, strongly typed, functional language Keeping with the spirit of earlier editions, all of the new theory is presented in a very informal and intuitive manner, keeping the text as accessible as possible to the widest possible readership. An effective introduction to the area of stochastic modelling in computational systems biology, this new edition adds additional detail and computational methods that will provide a stronger foundation for the development of more advanced courses in stochastic biological modelling.

Stochastic kinetic methods are currently considered to be the most realistic and elegant means of representing and simulating the dynamics of biochemical and biological networks. Deterministic versus stochastic modelling in biochemistry and systems biology introduces and critically reviews the deterministic and stochastic foundations of biochemical kinetics, covering applied stochastic process theory for application in the field of modelling and simulation of biological processes at the molecular scale. Following an overview of deterministic chemical kinetics and the stochastic approach to biochemical kinetics, the book goes onto discuss the specifics of stochastic simulation algorithms, modelling in systems biology and the structure of biochemical models. Later chapters cover reaction-diffusion systems, and provide an analysis of the Kinfer and BlenX software systems. The final chapter looks at simulation of ecodynamics and food web dynamics. Introduces mathematical concepts and formalisms of deterministic and stochastic modelling through clear and simple examples Presents recently developed discrete stochastic formalisms for modelling biological systems and processes Describes and applies stochastic simulation algorithms to implement a stochastic formulation of biochemical and biological kinetics

The aim of this book is to provide a well-structured and coherent overview of existing mathematical modeling approaches for biochemical reaction systems, investigating relations between both the conventional models and several types of deterministic-stochastic hybrid model recombinations. Another main objective is to illustrate and compare diverse numerical simulation schemes and their computational effort. Unlike related works, this book presents a broad scope in its applications, from offering a detailed introduction to hybrid approaches for the case of multiple population scales to discussing the setting of time-scale separation resulting from widely varying firing rates of reaction channels. Additionally, it also addresses modeling approaches for non well-mixed reaction-diffusion dynamics, including deterministic and stochastic PDEs and spatiotemporal master equations. Finally, by translating and incorporating complex theory to a level accessible to non-mathematicians, this book effectively bridges the gap between mathematical research in computational biology and its practical use in biological, biochemical, and biomedical systems.

Since the first edition of Stochastic Modelling for Systems Biology, there have been many interesting developments in the use of "likelihood-free" methods of Bayesian inference for complex stochastic models. Re-written to reflect this modern perspective, this second edition covers everything necessary for a good appreciation of stochastic kinetic modelling of biological networks in the systems biology context. Keeping with the spirit of the first edition, all of the new theory is presented in a very informal and intuitive manner, keeping the text as accessible as possible to the widest possible readership. New in the Second Edition All examples have been updated to Systems Biology Markup Language Level 3 All code relating to simulation, analysis, and inference for stochastic kinetic models has been re-written and re-structured in a more modular way An ancillary website provides links, resources, errata, and up-to-date information on installation and use of the associated R package More background material on the theory of Markov processes and stochastic differential equations, providing more substance for mathematically inclined readers Discussion of some of the more advanced concepts relating to stochastic kinetic models, such as random time change representations, Kolmogorov equations, Fokker-Planck equations and the linear noise approximation Simple modelling of "extrinsic" and "intrinsic" noise An effective introduction to the area of stochastic modelling in computational systems biology, this new edition adds additional mathematical detail and computational methods that will provide a stronger foundation for the development of more advanced courses in stochastic biological modelling.

This book focuses on counting processes and continuous-time Markov chains motivated by examples and applications drawn from chemical networks in systems biology. The book should serve well as a supplement for courses in probability and stochastic processes. While the material is presented in a manner most suitable for students who have studied stochastic processes up to and including martingales in continuous time, much of the necessary background material is summarized in the Appendix. Students and Researchers with a solid understanding of calculus, differential equations and elementary probability and who are well-motivated by the applications will find this book of interest. David F. Anderson is Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Wisconsin and Thomas G. Kurtz is Emeritus Professor in the Departments of Mathematics and Statistics at that university. Their research is focused on probability and stochastic processes with applications in biology and other areas of science and technology. These notes are based in part on lectures given by Professor Anderson at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and by Professor Kurtz at Goethe University Frankfurt.