On modelling the immune system as a complex system

E. Ahmed, A. H. Hashish

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We argued that immune system is an adaptive complex system. It is shown that it has emergent properties. Its network structure is of the small world network type. The network is of the threshold type, which helps in avoiding autoimmunity. It has the property that every antigen (e.g. virus or bacteria) is typically attacked by more than one effector. This stabilizes the equilibrium state. Modelling complex systems is discussed. Cellular automata (CA)-type models are successful, but there are much less analytic results about CA than about other less successful models e.g. partial differential equations (PDE). A compromise is proposed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)413-418
Number of pages6
JournalTheory in Biosciences
Volume124
Issue number3-4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 1 2006

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Statistics and Probability
  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Applied Mathematics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'On modelling the immune system as a complex system'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this