Mathematical Biology, the New Frontier: Educating the Next Generation

Incorporating Discrete Math into the Undergraduate Mathematical Biology Curriculum

Raina Robeva, Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, VA

We examine the question of how to best model gene regulatory networks, using the lac operon in E coli as a primary example. As the first gene network, its discovery in 1961 resulted in a Nobel Prize for F. Jacob and J. Monod in 1965. Since then, many mathematical models have been constructed for this network, which remains an object of active research. This system is particularly attractive for pedagogical purposes because the variety of different models that have been constructed cover broad areas such as systems of nonlinear differential equations, Boolean networks, and stochastic methods. While modeling with differential equations is now routinely taught in conventional courses in mathematics in mathematical biology, the Boolean networks approach has not achieved equal popularity even though the mathematical concepts are fully accessible to undergraduates with the proper use of specialized software. The talk will focus on describing, comparing, and contrasting the Boolean networks and the differential equations models of the lac operon.