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SUMMARY:Executable Biology: Towards Computer Programs that Mimic Life - Ja
 smin Fisher (MSR Cambridge)
DTSTART:20071016T120000Z
DTEND:20071016T130000Z
UID:TALK8505@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Thomas Tuerk
DESCRIPTION:Jasmin Fisher (MSR Cambridge)\n\nThe new emerging field of Sys
 tems Biology aims to gain a system-level understanding of biology. In orde
 r to achieve such an understanding we need to establish the methodologies 
 and techniques that will enable us to understand biological phenomena in t
 heir full complexity. One such attempt is to use existing formal methods d
 esigned for the construction of computerized systems to model biological s
 ystems. We have recently shown that describing mechanistic models in a dyn
 amic and executable language has various advantages. Dynamic models can re
 present phenomena of importance to biology that static models cannot repre
 sent\, such as time and concurrency. In addition\, formal verification met
 hods can be used to ensure the consistency of computational models with th
 e biological data on which they are based. In this talk\, I will discuss t
 he strength of constructing and analyzing abstract executable models in bi
 ology. This pioneering approach that I call 'Executable Biology' will be i
 llustrated through different models representing signalling crosstalk duri
 ng animal development. The construction and analysis of these models has p
 rovided new biological insights that were validated experimentally. If tim
 e permits\, I will also discuss some of the new challenges that executable
  biology poses for Computer Science and Biology.
LOCATION:Computer Laboratory\, William Gates Building\, Room SS03
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