Some mathematical problems in biology

Abstract

A survey is presented of some mathematical problems encountered in biological studies. A brief description of the problems to be discussed are as follows. 1. Blood flow: The mean flow of blood through arteries and veins does not behave in accordance with Poiseuille's law all the time. 2. Tracer analysis: The inferences to be drawn from radioactive tracer studies of physiological systems, called compartment analysis, is an inverse problem. 3. Cell populations: The growth of cell populations is conveniently described by differential equations which utilize either age and time or maturity and time as independent variables. © 1975 American Mathematical Society.