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Computational Immunology at Princeton University. Bio. Geo. CS. PICASso Program in Integrated Computer and Application Sciences. Eng. Astro. Steven Kleinstein, Advisor: J.P. Singh. Goals. Simulate the Immune System on a computer. Why in machina experiments?.
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Computational Immunology at Princeton University Bio Geo CS PICASsoProgram in Integrated Computer and Application Sciences Eng Astro Steven Kleinstein, Advisor: J.P. Singh
Goals • Simulate the Immune System on a computer
Why in machina experiments? • Understand the big (system-level) picture • Compared to lab experiments simulations are cheap, easy and quick! • Make difficult or impossible measurements • Help focus experiments, saving a lot of money • Test “wild” theories in privacy of office
Ab1 Ab2 Ab3 Abn Ag1 Ag2 Ag3 Agm An in machina experiment could be... • Ordinary (or Partial) Differential Equations • Generalized Cellular Automata
In machina study #1:Comparing Model and Experiment • Observation: Many models show only a qualitative correspondence to experimental data. • Project: Provide quantitative validation of a germinal center model by simulating a real immune response to 2-phenyl-5-oxazolone. Current models have limited ability to explain experimental data
X X X In machina study #2:Inferring Dynamics from Clonal Trees • Observation: Clonal trees are genealogical trees that show the relationships between the cells of the immune system. The ‘shape’ of these trees may be used to infer the underlying dynamics of the system. • Project: Develop more sophisticated measures of tree ‘shape’ that can help interpret experimental data?
In machina study #2: Visualization • The technology of the “Display Wall” allows us to visualize and interactively work with full clonal trees as they grow