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Why build models?
Modelling a system involves building a formal description of the system on the basis of current knowledge and understanding. Traditionally, models are contructed to allow a system to be conceptualised and communicated and to assist in determining the course of further research. Over the last fifty years, there has been an increasing trend towards the use of mathematical and computational formalisms to frame models of regulatory systems in biology. The structure of such systems is frequently complex, consisting of multiple intertwined feedback loops and non-linear interactions. This structural complexity, combined with the varying timescales on which different biological processes act, makes it particularly difficult to develop intuitions about how regulatory systems operate. Building a formal model of such a system requires all assumptions about the timing and connectivity of regulatory elements to be made explicit. Modelling can therefore provide a valuable check on intuitions during the development of hypotheses [82].
In addition, formal models are frequently complemented with computer simulation, in which a model is built and then used to make some form of prediction about system behaviour. Running simulations using models based on known systems can provide validation of a particular modelling approach. Furthermore, such simulations can also provide valuable guidance to target future studies by enabling experiments to be carried out in silico that would be expensive, time consuming or otherwise infeasible to perform in vitro.
Next: Complex systems and systems Up: A diversity of models Previous: A diversity of models Nic Geard 2004-05-06