Simulation of biochemical networks--cellular networks as dynamic control systems

It has been appreciated for at least a hundred years that biological organisms contain control systems that enable them to adapt to a changing environment and adjust their internal systems when they need to proliferate. Even so, we have little understanding of the role that many of the control systems play. It's only in recent years that mainstream science has begun to study biological systems qualitatively and to look specifically at dynamical responses. As a result it might be possible that future cancer therapies will operate by manipulating the control systems that have gone awry during uncontrolled proliferation. This is a long term goal because it would require a mind shift in the way some biologists approach such problems. In this short paper the author describes some of the main control elements found in biological systems and illustrate their use in biological networks. In addition the author discuss some of the strategies that one can use to build computational models.