The next breakthrough tool in biology? It's math. Here are some of the ways mathematical biology is helping to change the world
Biology is rich in patterns. You’ll find them everywhere – from the number of petals (which generally correspond to the number in the Fibonacci sequence), to the number of vertebrae in mammals (giraffes, humans, and quokkas all have seven neck vertebrae). In fact, many viruses follow patterns and have symmetry in their shells.
Mathematics is essentially the science of patterns. Patterns can be subtle. So without using math to formally explain and understand it, we can skip it entirely.
For a long time, biological research has largely progressed without the sophisticated mathematical modeling that is now at the core of physics, engineering, and climate. But this is changing.
Mathematical biology is a growing field that promises to revolutionize microbiology, biotechnology, evolutionary biology and healthcare. With mathematics, scientific breakthroughs that previously required years of trial and error (and tons of trash) can be achieved in a very short time.
Here are some of the recent advances made in mathematical biology.
Read more: We’ve discovered a new rule of nature. This explains why the pointed parts of animals grow like that
Viruses and nature
As children, most of us have played rock, paper, scissors, games where rock crushes scissors, scissors cuts paper and paper covers rock.
Now, the same math we use to describe rock, paper, scissors can also be used to predict cycles of dominance between animal species in a region that allow them to coexist. For example, there are three types of side-spotted lizards in the southwestern United States. Each variety has advantages over one over the other, and disadvantages for the third.
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Mathematics is also at the forefront of our fight against COVID-19. If you watch the news, you’ve probably heard of R0, a mathematical concept that indicates if an epidemic will occur. When R0 is greater than 1 the number of infections increases. With an R0 of less than 1 the epidemic will eventually die.
This important concept in infectious disease epidemiology is the result of the power of mathematics and statistics to detect patterns in data that are too subtle to be noticed otherwise. That is the key to predicting and managing the spread of the COVID-19 virus. What is perhaps less well known is that mathematics is also used for:
- designing viruses to kill cancer cells, such as by creating combination therapies to treat ovarian cancer
- designing interventions to help eliminate malaria
- identify the causes of antimicrobial resistance
- creating clean drinking water for developing countries and dry areas
- unlock the workings of living cells.
Read more: How to flatten the coronavirus curve, a mathematician explains
Whole cell model
We are now at the beginning of a new era in biology – an era in which we can build mathematical models to comprehensively describe individual biological cells in order to predict their fate. This is called the “whole cell model”. It allows us to count the life of cells and helps us understand how the human body works.
A writer for The New Yorker magazine calls the quest to understand the intracellular world the “end of the line.” And although the field is still in its infancy, potential applications are everywhere.
Imagine for a moment if we could build a mathematical replica model of the inner cellular workings of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a bacterial superbug that does not respond to standard antibiotics.
With the MSRA whole cell model, we can use computer simulations informed by biological experiments to design new ways of preventing and treating MRSA bacterial infections. This will add another layer of defense in our fight against resistant superbugs.
The benefits of whole cell modeling extend to cancer treatment as well. For example, cancer immunotherapy relies on using the patient’s own immune system to fight cancer. If we have a complete cell model of immune cells, we can fine-tune specific anti-tumor responses to enhance cancer-fighting therapies – and do so without invasive patient exploration.
Clean water
Beyond health care, whole cell models provide us with methods to provide clean water for agriculture and food production. Effective water treatment produces high quality water by removing microorganisms, organic matter and micropollutants.
However, the build-up of the removed biological material will cause the filter to become clogged with a layer of biological material, or “biofilm”. The biofilm must be removed in order for the filtration process to work again. In water desalination plants, about a quarter of the operating costs are associated with biofilm removal — this is a huge problem.
Whole cell models will allow us to dissect the mechanisms underlying how biofilms form. We will then be able to identify suitable targets to inhibit biofilm formation in the first place, or destroy biofilms once created, to restore the integrity of the water supply.
This is just one of many examples. Being able to understand, predict and control the behavior of cells will accelerate the discovery of biotechnology and healthcare, ensuring a healthier, safer and prosperous future for everyone.
Read more: COVID-19 is increasing water problems worldwide
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