Alexandra Fronville, Abdoulaye Sarr and Vincent Rodin.
Modelling multi-cellular growth using morphological analysis.
Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems - Serie B (DCDS-B),
American Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS),
22(1):83-99, January 2017.
Abstract:
The goal of this work is to introduce a mathematical model of multicellular
developmental design based on morphological analysis in order to study the
robustness of multi-cellular organism development.
In this model each cell is a controlled system and has the same information,
an ordered list of cell type.
Cells perceive their neighbours during the growth process and decide to divide
in a direction given by the reading advancement of the virtual genetic material
and depending on the complex interplay between genetic, epigenetic and
environment.
Cells can perform distinct functions but in our simulator, two cell types just
differ by there color and by permuting the segmentation direction according to
the virtual genetic material and the epigenetic control.
The switching on and switching off of genes depends on the environment of the
cell.
The multi-cellular organism has to reach a shape in a given environment to
which it has to adapt.
We present in this paper an algorithm based model which is implemented in a
virtual 3D-environment.
Moreover, the algorithm follows the principle of inertia in that the cells
progress through the reading of its virtual genetic material after a
punctuated equilibrium or when its viability is at stake.
Keywords:
Morphogenesis, computational modeling, artificial development,
mutational analysis, viability theory, epigenetics.
[doi:10.3934/dcdsb.2017004]
[Fronville17a.pdf]