Home // International Journal On Advances in Life Sciences, volume 1, number 1, 2009 // View article

Mathematical Description of Biological Structures, Mechanisms, and States

Authors:
H. Joel Jeffrey

Keywords: multi-level structure; mathematical models of structure; quantifying structural similarity

Abstract:
A new method for mathematically describing cellular and molecular structures, mechanisms, and states is presented. A novel mathematical formulation of structure is developed, and new mathematical formulations of structural complexity and similarity are introduced that take into account differences in composition and structure at all levels of detail and apply equally to structures, mechanisms, and states. A recursive formula for calculation of structural similarity is derived. The methods and mathematical formulations apply equally to cases in which we have complete knowledge and to those in which we have only incomplete or partial information. The formalism and the mathematical similarity definition are the full generalization of sequence and sequence similarity. They enable the creation of repositories of formal multi-level structural descriptions of biological entities and new search capabilities, such as searching for processes or structures similar to a specified one, or with specified structural or compositional deviations.

Pages: 1 to 13

Copyright: Copyright (c) to authors, 2009. Used with permission.

Publication date: June 7, 2009

Published in: journal

ISSN: 1942-2660