Models and Empirical Observations

Example 1.4.1 Mathematical Model of an Infectious Disease (Marchuk, 1983) 

Disease is caused when certain types of antigens (e.g., bacteria, viruses, etc.) overcome immune responses in an organism (see Section 5.20). The interaction between antigens and immune responses can be modeled at different levels, from macroscopic to intracellular genetic. The type of result the 

Lead to predictions of experimental events Show what experiments need to be conducted and what parameters require measurement Form a framework into which to form experimental results Make some experiments unnecessary, either because 

Equations to describe the change in the number of circulating antibodies as a function of the number of specific plasma cells (Hege and Cole, 1966). 

Probabilistic models of the interaction of antigens with immunocompetent B cells (Jilek, 1971). 

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