Boolean-based Representations of Biological Systems

The goal of this project is to develop a model that can visualize biological networks as logic gate circuits, and vice-versa. In recent years, discrete dynamic modeling has emerged as a powerful method of modeling and understanding biological systems. One type, boolean network models (which was initially used as a prototypical model of genetic regulatory networks), has been shown to be a tractable approach for modeling large-systems. A boolean network consists of a set of nodes whose state is binary and is determined only by other nodes in the network through Boolean functions. The simplicity and self-containment of these graphs makes it extremely fast to simulate these systems and is also a very realistic interpretation of how biological networks actually work. Unfortunately, no libraries yet exist for converting a visualization of a biological network into a logic gate visualization and vice-versa.

Thus, the aim of this GSoC project is to develop a web-based tool that can visualize biological networks, and also transform these networks into a logic gate-based system.