It is argued that multiscale approaches are necessary for an explanatory modeling of biological systems. A first step, besides common to the multiscale modeling of physical and living systems, is a bottom-up integration based on the notions of effective parameters and minimal models. Top-down effects can be accounted for in terms of effective constraints and inputs. Biological systems are essentially characterized by an entanglement of bottom-up and top-down influences following from their evolutionary history. A self-consistent multiscale scheme is proposed to capture the ensuing circular causality. Its differences with standard mean-field self-consistent equations and slow-fast decompositions are discussed. As such, this scheme offers a way to unravel the multilevel architecture of living systems and their regulation. Two examples, genome functions and biofilms, are detailed. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.
CITATION STYLE
Lesne, A. (2013). Multiscale Analysis of Biological Systems. Acta Biotheoretica, 61(1), 3–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10441-013-9170-z
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