A metaphor of complex automata in modeling biological phenomena

Abstract

We demonstrate that Complex automata (CxA) - a hybrid of a Particle method (PM) and Cellular automata (CA) can serve as a convenient modeling framework in developing advanced models of biological systems. As a proof-of-concept we use two processes of pathogenic growth: cancer proliferation and Fusarium graminearum wheat infection. The ability of mimicking both mechanical interactions of tumor with the rest of tissue and penetration properties of F.graminearum, confirms that our model can reproduce realistic 3-D dynamics of complex biological phenomena. We discuss the scope of application of CxA in the context of its implementation in CUDA GPU environment. © 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.