Abstract for: An In Silico Exploration of HIV

The systems of the human body are among the most elegantly complex feedback-intensive control systems. Their performance, as we age and are afflicted with disease, often confounds our attempts to intervene to prevent or correct problems, precisely because of that feedback complexity. Building upon advances in specific areas of medical science, there is an important opportunity, a critical need, for in silico simulation of human biological systems. The authors believe this will advance understanding of why the body’s systems perform as they do, how they are impacted by disease, and how medical interventions do and could alter the performance of the systems. This paper presents one such in silico endeavor. Cooper Human Systems effort to develop an in silico model of HIV and the human immune response for the purpose of simulating disease progress and exploring for a cure.