Modeling regenerative processes with Membrane Computing

Abstract

Understanding the remarkable ability of some organisms to restore their anatomical shape following the amputation of large parts of their bodies is currently a major unsolved ques- tion in regenerative biology and biomedicine. Despite rapid advances in the molecular pro- cesses required for regeneration, a systems level, algorithmic understanding of this process has remained elusive. For this reason, the field needs new computational paradigms to help model the flow of information during regeneration. Membrane computing is a branch of natural computing that studies the properties and applications of theoretical computing devices known as P systems. These systems are an abstraction of the structure and func- tioning of a living cell, as well as its organization in tissues. Here, we propose a model of regenerative processes in planarian worms based on P systems, which recapitulates sev- eral aspects of regenerative pattern regulation. Our results demonstrate that it is possible to apply a novel computational framework to help understand pattern regulation in regen- erative biology.