Some nonstandard modeling techniques in theoretical biology (Q1106114)

Three topics are surveyed. (1) The quasisteady-state assumption is a fundamental example of frequent instances in theoretical biology where advantage can be taken of the simultaneous existence of widely separated time scales. It is shown that appropriate scaling can provide a markedly sharper estimate of the range of validity of this approximation. (2) A new methodology for modelling dynamically changing networks is applied to simple morphogenesis in fungal colonies. A brief discussion is given of possible application to the complex polymerization and cross- linking that characterize cytoplasmic fibers. (3) It is shown that problems in ecology and immunology can be illuminated by considering nonlocal interactions (and hence integrodifferential equations) that generate patterns in ``aspect space'' or ``shape space''.