Cellular automaton modeling of biological pattern formation. Characterization, examples, and analysis. With a foreword by Philip K. Maini (Q737194)

In the simplest sense, a cellular automaton consists of a discrete spatial lattice, with the state of each lattice point being described by one of a finite number of states, and the whole lattice being synchronously updated at discrete time steps. The rule for updating a site normally depends on the states of a small number of its neighbours. Such automata are known to produce complex spatio-temporal patterns, are easy to implement computationally, but have generally not been analysed mathematically. In this book the authors concentrate on modelling biological pattern formation using cellular automata, using the philosophy that a spatially discrete system is an appropriate way to model entities which are themselves spatially discrete, i.e., biological cells. Chapter one gives a short introduction to the problem of biological pattern formation and an outline of the book's contents. The second chapter gives an interesting view of the history of scientific thought regarding the origins of biological patterns, from ancient Greece to the twentieth century. Chapter three contains a brief discussion on the art of modelling and the various types of models one could choose (discrete or continous space/time/state). Chapter four contains the heart of the book, in which cellular automata (deterministic, probabilistic, and lattice gas) are defined. Several mathematical approaches to the study of such automata are given (the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation and mean field equations, including the Boltzmann equation for lattice gas cellular automata). The linear stability of steady states of mean field equations, useful in predicting emerging spatio-temporal patterns, is discussed, as is the connection between cellular automata and partial differential equations. Chapters five through thirteen each cover the application of (mostly lattice gas) cellular automata to a particular problem. In order, they are random movement, cell migration in heterogeneous environments, adhesive cell interaction, alignment and cellular swarming, growth processes, pigment cell pattern formation, tissue development, tumor growth and invasion, and Turing patterns and excitable media. For each problem, the relevant phenomenon is described, an appropriate cellular automaton is presented, along with its dynamics and possibly some mathematical analysis. Chapters four to thirteen all end with suggestions for further research. Chapter fourteen gives a summary of the results in the previous chapters and discusses limitations of this modelling approach, and other possible approaches. Six appendices give further mathematical details. The book would be useful to someone with a mathematical background interested in modelling spatio-temporal dynamics of biological cells at this level of description.