Simulations illuminate the inner workings of blood at multiple levels
Understanding blood flow and coagulation is crucial to treating blood disorders such as hemophilia and thrombosis, and to dealing with diseases such as AIDS, malaria, and diabetes that have...
Jun, 07, 2012
Computation offers a window into a disease often described as a black box
The growing threats of multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extensively drug resistant (XDR) tuberculosis (TB) are spurring worldwide interest in faster and more innovative research approaches, such as...
Jun, 06, 2012
Modelers should take the lead.
Many collaborators 1 with whom modelers2 work have little or no training in modeling3 and so it is natural that they may be cautious,...
Jun, 05, 2012
How adding jet packs to characters' hands can help optimize animations
An animated human figure seeking the optimal path from point A to point B typically relies on computationally expensive hard constraints that force the trajectories to be physically realistic. But...
Jun, 20, 2013
Using packing software to convey humanity’s complex relationship with HIV in short films or images
Three-D animators have long sought algorithms that can pack odd-shaped things into tight spaces. Now, Graham Johnson, PhD, a QB3 Faculty Fellow in bioengineering at the University of California, San...
Feb, 19, 2013
A standard dictionary definition of a network is “an interconnected or interrelated chain, group, or system.” A cursory look at our surroundings shows that networks are ubiquitous. For...
Oct, 01, 2007
Many systems models are strikingly vulnerable to even small changes in the variables
Systems biologists seek to model many complex biological interactions all at once. Typically, they input tens or even hundreds of variables to produce predic- tions about a system—for example,...
Jan, 01, 2008
The new Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) program signals NIH's faith in computational research
In December, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) approved a new trans-NIH initiative called Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K). With this action, the NIH signals its intention to invest a significant...
Feb, 19, 2013
Competition inspires model improvements
During the summer of 2009, the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility in Stockholm dangled a nearly $10,000 cash prize in front of neuron modelers and challenged them to do better. And...
Jan, 01, 2010