Biological Informatics: The Virtual Cell: Modeling Cellular Processes

Biochemist John Carson uses The Virtual Cell to compare experimental and simulation results. Biologists are generating a vast amount of data on the molecular events that occur in the cell. Since a computer might the best tool for researchers to integrate all the information and sort out the complexities of a typical biological process, the next logical step would be to develop appropriate software for the job. A team at the University of Connecticut (UConn) Health Center in Farmington is attemp

Written byNadia Halim

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Biochemist John Carson uses The Virtual Cell to compare experimental and simulation results.

Biologists are generating a vast amount of data on the molecular events that occur in the cell. Since a computer might the best tool for researchers to integrate all the information and sort out the complexities of a typical biological process, the next logical step would be to develop appropriate software for the job. A team at the University of Connecticut (UConn) Health Center in Farmington is attempting to do just that with a program called The Virtual Cell.

The interdisciplinary effort involves biochemists, biologists, mathematicians, computer scientists, and physicists. Their goal is not to create a model in itself, or to create a system to model a whole cell, but to develop a tool for experimental biologists. Thus, the approach requires no user programming; instead, the user specifies biologically relevant abstractions such as reactions, cellular compartments, ...

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