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Turing’s Theory of Morphogenesis: Where We Started, Where We Are and Where We Want to Go

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The Incomputable

Part of the book series: Theory and Applications of Computability ((THEOAPPLCOM))

Abstract

Over 60 years have passed since Alan Turing first postulated a mechanism for biological pattern formation. Although Turing did not have the chance to extend his theories before his unfortunate death two years later, his work has not gone unnoticed. Indeed, many researchers have since taken up the gauntlet and extended his revolutionary and counter-intuitive ideas. Here, we reproduce the basics of his theory as well as review some of the recent generalisations and applications that have led our mathematical models to be closer representations of the biology than ever before. Finally, we take a look to the future and discuss open questions that not only show that there is still much life in the theory, but also that the best may be yet to come.

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Acknowledgements

TEW would like to thank St John’s College Oxford for its financial support. This publication is based on work supported by Award No. KUK-C1-013-04, made by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). The cheetah and lemur photos were used under the Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license and were downloaded from http://www.flickr.com/photos/53936799@N05/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/ekilby/.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wolfson Centre for Mathematical Biology, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 6GG, UK

    Thomas E. Woolley, Ruth E. Baker & Philip K. Maini

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  1. Thomas E. Woolley
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  2. Ruth E. Baker
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Correspondence to Thomas E. Woolley .

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  1. School of Mathematics, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom

    S. Barry Cooper

  2. Dept. of Mathematical Logic & Applications, Sofia University, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Mariya I. Soskova

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Woolley, T.E., Baker, R.E., Maini, P.K. (2017). Turing’s Theory of Morphogenesis: Where We Started, Where We Are and Where We Want to Go. In: Cooper, S., Soskova, M. (eds) The Incomputable. Theory and Applications of Computability. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43669-2_13

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