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Transactions on Computational Systems Biology III pp 105–122Cite as

An Agent-Oriented Conceptual Framework for Systems Biology

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((TCSB,volume 3737))

Abstract

Recently, a collective effort from multiple research areas has been made to understand biological systems at the system level. On the one hand, for instance, researchers working on systems biology aim at understanding how living systems routinely perform complex tasks. On the other hand, bioscientists involved in pharmacogenomics strive to study how an individual’s genetic inheritance affects the body’s response to drugs. Among the many things, research in the above disciplines requires the ability to simulate particular biological systems as cells, organs, organisms and communities. When observed according to the perspective of system simulation, biological systems are complex ones, and consist of a set of components interacting with each other and with an external (dynamic) environment.

In this work, we propose an alternative way to specify and model complex systems based on behavioral modelling. We consider a biological system as a set of active computational components interacting in a dynamic and often unpredictable environment. Then, we propose a conceptual framework for engineering computational systems simulating the behaviour of biological systems, and modelling them in terms of agents and agent societies.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CRIBI Biotechnology Centre, Università di Padova, via Ugo Bassi 58/B, 35131, Padova, Italy

    Nicola Cannata

  2. Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica, Università di Camerino, Via Madonna delle Carceri, 62032, Camerino, Italy

    Flavio Corradini & Emanuela Merelli

  3. DEIS, Alma Mater Studiorum, Università di Bologna, Via Venezia 52, 47023, Cesena, Italy

    Andrea Omicini & Alessandro Ricci

Authors
  1. Nicola Cannata
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  2. Flavio Corradini
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  3. Emanuela Merelli
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  4. Andrea Omicini
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  5. Alessandro Ricci
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Computational and Systems Biology, The Microsoft Research - University of Trento, Piazza Manci, 17, 38050, Povo (TN), Italy

    Corrado Priami

  2. Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica, Università di Camerino, I-62032, Camerino, Italy

    Emanuela Merelli

  3. DEIS, Università di Bologna, Via Venezia 52, 47023, Cesena, Italy

    Pablo Gonzalez

  4. Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna a Cesena,, via Venezia 52, 47023, Cesena, Italy

    Andrea Omicini

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Cannata, N., Corradini, F., Merelli, E., Omicini, A., Ricci, A. (2005). An Agent-Oriented Conceptual Framework for Systems Biology. In: Priami, C., Merelli, E., Gonzalez, P., Omicini, A. (eds) Transactions on Computational Systems Biology III. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 3737. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/11599128_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/11599128_8

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