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Soul searching and heart throbbing for biological modeling

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2002

Daniel L. Young
Affiliation:
Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 [email protected] http://cybernet.mit.edu/
Chi-Sang Poon
Affiliation:
Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 [email protected]

Abstract

Biological models are useful not only because they can simulate biological behaviors, but because they may shed light on the inner workings of complex biological structures and functions as deduced by top-down and/or bottom-up reasoning. Beyond the stylistic appeal of specific implementation methods, a model should be appraised according to its ability to bring out the underlying organizing and operating principles – which are truly the model's heart and soul.

Type
Brief Report
Copyright
© 2001 Cambridge University Press

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