Computational and Applied Math Proseminar

Thursday, February 3, 2005, 4:00 p.m. PSA 102

Daniel Forger (faculty candidate)

Courant Institute

Mathematical Modeling of Biological Timekeeping

Abstract Biological clocks with a period near one day (circadian) are essential for the survival of many organisms. Circadian clock disorders in man can lead to poor productivity, jet lag, sleep disorders and have been linked to Alzheimer's disease and cancer. The basis of circadian timekeeping is an intracellular clock comprising a feedback network of genes and proteins for which there is diverse, detailed, sometimes conflicting and complex experimental data.

The first half of the talk will describe a detailed mathematical model of circadian clock in mammalian pacemaker cells I have developed with Charles Peskin. I will then outline how simulations of this model, and mathematical analysis can used to understand key questions in circadian biology including:
1) How intracellular clocks function accurately despite the inherent stochasticity of the molecular interactions of which they are comprised
2) How intracellular clocks keep an approximately 24-hour period over a wide range of temperatures and
3) How oscillations are sustained within pacemaker cells. If time permits, I will also discuss multicellular models of circadian timekeeping, and models which can be used to optimize human sleep/wake schedules.

For further information please contact: mittelmann@asu.edu