Science: The Computer Cell

A living cell is so tiny that it usually can be seen only with the aid of a microscope; yet within this basic unit of life exists an extraordinarily intricate chemical plant. In the cell's nucleus alone, scientists have identified more than 100 distinct chemical reactions that occur as the cell takes in food, grows and reproduces itself. Five years ago, Edward J. Davison, a computer specialist at the University of Toronto, began to translate these complex processes into a series of equations that were in effect a mathematical model of the nucleus of...

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