Repo to hold code files for my ISB SU2022 internship under the NSF REU Program
My project covered creating mathematical models from data. A summary of the project is found here.
The overarching idea here is "getting equations from data" to use them in dynamic/mechanistic modeling (using more specific equations rather than statistical models). As per the book, Dynamical Models in Biology by Stephen P. Ellner and John Guckenheimer, having a dynamic model allows us to see the relations between variables/states in the system, giving greater insight into the system as a whole rather than just describing a system as a whole under a certain context, like the law of mass action or enzyme kinetics. This might allow us to find underlying rules for a system we model (think Keppler modeling orbits using tons of data and Newton using his laws of motion which can be used to describe the orbits and more).
Having a dynamic model equation allows us to, in theory, use less data than predictive statistical models as well since those models need a lot of data to verify probabilities (I think). Since it's an equation, we can also see how a system changes far out in time. For that though, the accuracy is up to debate... That aside, using dynamic models may serve a purpose in acting as a proxy for testing when we don't want to use humans. There's a ton of different ways to model data. This is just another way of accomplishing that with it's own benefits and drawbacks.