title: Explaining a complex living system: dynamics, multi-scaling and emergence.
abstract: Complex living systems are difficult to understand. They obey the laws of physics and chemistry, but these basic laws do not explain their behaviour; each component part of a complex system participates in many different interactions and these interactions generate unforeseeable, emergent properties. For example, microscopic interactions between non-living molecules, at the macroscopic level, produce a living cell. Here we discuss how to explain such complexity in the format of a dynamic model that is mathematically precise, yet understandable. Precise, computer-aided modelling will make it easier to formulate novel experiments and attain understanding and control of key biological processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: Irun R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Harel
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D008198:Lymph Nodes; D008954:Models, Biological; D049490:Systems Biology