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Multiscale modeling in the framework of biological systems and its potential for spaceflight biology studies - PubMed

  • ️Sat Jan 01 2022

Review

Multiscale modeling in the framework of biological systems and its potential for spaceflight biology studies

Andrew Millar-Wilson et al. iScience. 2022.

Abstract

A central tenet of systems biology is that biological systems are greater than the sum of their component parts. Spaceflight is associated with hazards including radiation exposure and microgravity which impact different echelons of biological organizations spanning molecular, cellular, organ, and organismal levels. These insults lead to physical damage, including muscle and bone loss, neurological damage, and impaired immunity. Mitochondrial dysfunction and biological alterations occurring during spaceflight have been reported. The health challenges presented by long-term space travel must be addressed and appropriate countermeasures developed to protect astronauts. Increasing quantity of multiomics data are being generated from cells and model organisms flown in space, with physiological data from astronauts. Systems biology approaches leveraging mathematical reasoning and computational modeling are required to characterize these components in a holistic fashion. In this review, we provide an historic perspective on multiscale biological systems modeling, followed by a discussion on its utility for spaceflight biology research.

Keywords: in silico biology; space sciences; systems biology.

© 2022 The Author(s).

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Conflict of interest statement

G.H. is a founder of Altomics Datamation Ltd. and a member of its scientific advisory board. A.M.-W., O.W., and E.D. declare no competing interests.

Figures

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Graphical abstract
Figure 1
Figure 1

Spatial and temporal scales in biology Temporal scales range from short such as enzyme catalysis (10-6) to long such as development or aging (109 s). Spatial scale ranges from macromolecules, organelles, and cells to organisms and populations.

Figure 2
Figure 2

Spatial distance and temporal travel scales from earth Travel time to the International Space Station is approximately 16 h. Travel time to Mars is approximately 9 months. The distance to Mars from Earth varies considerably depending on their orbits around the sun. The closest recorded distance to Mars from Earth was in August 2003 when both were 34.8 million miles (56 million km) apart.

Figure 3
Figure 3

Side-by-side view of an in vitro cell environment and a simulation of the same using hybrid multiscale agent-based modeling systems models encompassing ordinary differential equation or partial differential equations (O/PDEs) and agent-based modeling (ABM) Differential equations are used to model chemical interactions at the smallest scale, the results of which are then used in a rule-based agent system to decide the behavior on a cellular scale.

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