ImmunoGrid: towards agent-based simulations of the human immune system at a natural scale

The ultimate aim of the EU-funded ImmunoGrid project is to develop a natural-scale model of the human immune system-that is, one that reflects both the diversity and the relative proportions of the molecules and cells that comprise it-together with the grid infrastructure necessary to apply this mod...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences physical, and engineering sciences, 2010-06, Vol.368 (1920), p.2799-2815
Main Authors: Halling-Brown, Mark, Pappalardo, Francesco, Rapin, Nicolas, Zhang, Ping, Alemani, Davide, Emerson, Andrew, Castiglione, Filippo, Duroux, Patrice, Pennisi, Marzio, Miotto, Olivo, Churchill, Daniel, Rossi, Elda, Moss, David S., Sansom, Clare E., Bernaschi, Massimo, Lefranc, Marie-Paule, Brunak, Søren, Lund, Ole, Motta, Santo, Lollini, Pier-Luigi, Murgo, Annalisa, Palladini, Arianna, Basford, Kaye E., Brusic, Vladimir, Shepherd, Adrian J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agent-Based Simulation
Bioinformatics
Computer Science
Computer Simulation
Genetics
Grid Computing
Humans
Immunity, Innate - immunology
Immunoinformatics
Internet
Life Sciences
Models, Immunological
Proteome - immunology
Quantitative Methods
Software
Systems Biology
Vaccine Discovery
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The ultimate aim of the EU-funded ImmunoGrid project is to develop a natural-scale model of the human immune system-that is, one that reflects both the diversity and the relative proportions of the molecules and cells that comprise it-together with the grid infrastructure necessary to apply this model to specific applications in the field of immunology. These objectives present the ImmunoGrid Consortium with formidable challenges in terms of complexity of the immune system, our partial understanding about how the immune system works, the lack of reliable data and the scale of computational resources required. In this paper, we explain the key challenges and the approaches adopted to overcome them. We also consider wider implications for the present ambitious plans to develop natural-scale, integrated models of the human body that can make contributions to personalized health care, such as the European Virtual Physiological Human initiative. Finally, we ask a key question: How long will it take us to resolve these challenges and when can we expect to have fully functional models that will deliver health-care benefits in the form of personalized care solutions and improved disease prevention?
ISSN:1364-503X
1471-2962
1471-2962
DOI:10.1098/rsta.2010.0067