Article
Article
Mathematical biology
Article By:
Rosen, Robert Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Last reviewed:October 2021
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.409700
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The application of mathematics to biological systems. Just as physics underlies many engineering technologies, biology serves as a foundation for such disciplines as medicine, agriculture, animal husbandry, and environmental sciences, in which mathematical analyses have proved indispensable. Mathematical biology overall serves as a means of using mathematical tools for developing theories regarding the operation of biological systems. Mathematical biology spans all levels of biological organization and biological function, from the configuration of biological macromolecules, as exemplified by the folding of proteins (Fig. 1) and the recognition properties of active sites in enzymes and receptors, to the entire ecosphere over the course of evolutionary time. See also: Bioinformatics; Biology; Mathematics
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