Simulation is becoming an important tool to understand developmental mechanisms. In this article we discuss two prototypical problem solving environments (PSEs) for biological development. The first PSE implements a three-dimensional model of coral growth and enables marine biologists to construct and analyze simulations with high-level concepts. The second PSE helps explore the interplay between genetic information and physical mechanisms during embryonic development of multicellular organisms and its evolution. The two PSEs have contrasting demands. A single simulation of a coral and its environment is very expensive. Thus the PSE manages single simulation set-ups and streamlines analysis of single simulations. The study of biological evolution requires high simulation throughput, and for this reason we use a simple, efficient two-dimensional model of biological development. The modular architecture of the PSEs gives advanced users full control, while keeping them accessible to the computationally unskilled.
Index Terms:
modeling morphogenesis, coral growth, developmental biology, computational biology, problem solving environment
Citation:
Roeland M.H. Merks, Alfons G. Hoekstra, Jaap A. Kaandorp, Peter M.A. Sloot, Paulien Hogeweg, "Problem-Solving Environments for Biological Morphogenesis," Computing in Science and Engineering, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 61-72, Jan./Feb. 2006, doi:10.1109/MCSE.2006.11
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