| Scientists are finding that mathematically predictable forms, such as periodic motions, and physics concepts, like stochastic resonance, can be used to better understand living organisms. This is true on a variety of levels from the activity of individual cells to the functioning of complex physiological systems. An interdisciplinary team of scientists at Boston University's Center for BioDynamics is working to apply insights from modern mathematics, biology, and engineering to some of the challenges of modern medicine.
Professor James J. Collins, co-director of the Center and professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University, for example, is engaged in a number of studies that apply mathematical and physics-based analyses to such diverse systems and problems as human posture control (which provides insight into the effects of such factors as visual input, natural aging, Parkinson's disease, and prolonged spaceflight, on the mechanisms that control human posture), locomotion control, enhancement of sensory functions, control of cardiac arrhythmias, and control of the cell division cycle . His group is also developing a theoretical framework and experimental protocol for constructing artificial gene networks, "genetic applets," that provide a target cell with the ability to monitor and respond appropriately to changes in its environment. In effect, the cell is "reprogrammed" to perform a desired function. In addition to gene therapy, genetic applets may have applications in biological research and chemical and biological warfare defense, and they may provide a new framework understanding the regulation of gene expression.
Nancy Kopell, co-director of the Center and professor of mathematics studies the dynamics of the nervous system. Rhythmic neural patterns are associated with a variety of human functions such as vision and smell, motor behavior, and states of mind - quiet awareness, attention, and learning, for example. Networks of synchronously active cells are important in diverse tasks of the nervous system, including facilitating the changes in connections among neurons that are thought to encode memory. Kopell and her collaborators are working to understand how the biophysical properties of the cells and their connections combine to enable the cells to create a coherent rhythm; their work has led to a suggestion about ways in which different frequency bands in the electrical activity of the brain may have different functional uses. She is also involved in projects concerning rhythms associated with periodic motor activities, such as walking, swimming, chewing and breathing.
Other members of the Center, drawn from such diverse disciplines as Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Health Sciences, Mathematics, BioMedical Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering are working on projects using mathematical and engineering approaches to understand such diverse phenomenon as the effect of zinc on the brain, patterns of bacterial growth, and the aerodynamics of flapping wings.
Primary funding for the Center for BioDynamics is provided by the National Science Foundation. |
