Syllabus 21-131

21-366B: Modeling and Simulation of Biological Systems, Spring 2003

Professor Shlomo Ta'asan
Department of Mathematical Sciences
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh PA 15213-3890
Offices: Wean Hall 6219
Phone: 412-268-5582
Email: shlomo@andrew.cmu.edu

Tue/Thur 10:30-11:50, Doherty Hall 1117
Office hours: By appointment

Lectures

Homework

Textbook: None. Lectures will be posed on the web page, with additional reading material. I will use from time to time some material from the following books. You do not need to check out these books, I will provide all necessary material.

Description The course will provide students with mathematical and computational tools in dealing with a variety of issues in understanding biological systems and their dynamics. Tools to be covered include probability and statistics, modeling using differential equations and stochastic processes and their relations, nonlinear models with bifurcation and chaos, dynamics of networks. Application of these tools to biological systems will include intracellular and extracellular communication, cell cycle controls, metabolism, DNA repair/damage, transporters/pumps, whole cell models. The course will use MATLAB for demonstration, but students can use the programming language of their choice. Prerequisites are calculus and matrix algebra.

Prerequisites: It is highly recommended that students have taken a prior calculus course covering basic manipulation, calculation and applications of derivatives and integrals, as well as a matrix algebra course.

Homework and Grading:
Homework exercises will be posted on the web page. All homework problems MUST be turned in by due date. A few (2-4) projects will be given during the semester. Grading will be based on homework (50%) and projects (50%). The letter grades are computed as follows, A: 85 - 100 B: 75 - 85 C: 60 - 75 D: 50 - 60.