https://community.wolfram.com RSS Feed for Wolfram Community showing any discussions tagged with Biological Sciences sorted by active. https://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/3726721 ![Fertility health dataset: improved classification analysis][1] &[Wolfram Notebook][2] [1]: https://community.wolfram.com//c/portal/getImageAttachment?filename=1089hero.png&userId=20103 [2]: https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/08e9c230-4bca-4994-8945-645f71abdf60 Aisha Hassan 2026-06-03T18:29:11Z https://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/3773012 [![Four-color graphical bioinformatics: the machinery behind phylogenetic trees][1]][2] &[Wolfram Notebook][3] [1]: https://community.wolfram.com//c/portal/getImageAttachment?filename=Four-colorgraphicalbioinformatics.jpg&userId=20103 [2]: https://community.wolfram.com//c/portal/getImageAttachment?filename=Four-colorgraphicalbioinformatics.jpg&userId=20103 [3]: https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/e19962d9-65ad-4946-a963-a0f1891c46c8 Jessica Alfonsi 2026-08-03T12:43:44Z https://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/3675919 **Intro** A fundamental question keeps coming up for me: If biological evolution operates in astronomically large spaces, why is search computationally tractable at all? Even a modest protein corresponds to a combinatorial space that is effectively impossible to exhaustively explore. Yet evolution does not behave like an unconstrained random search. So what makes the space navigable? **Essay** In 1859, two different perspectives on complexity emerged. Bernhard Riemann revealed deep structural order underlying the distribution of prime numbers. Charles Darwin introduced a dynamical process of variation and selection. Modern biology has successfully developed Darwin’s framework. However, something is often left implicit: the assumption that the search space is already structured in a way that makes local exploration effective. From a purely combinatorial perspective, this is problematic. Under simple assumptions (independent variation, no bias), expected search time grows exponentially with the amount of required information. In that regime, evolution would be computationally intractable. But real systems do not operate in that regime. Instead, they appear to evolve within a highly structured, constrained subspace, where: functional states are not isolated viable configurations form connected regions local mutations can traverse meaningful paths This suggests that evolution can be framed as a constrained search problem, rather than a purely stochastic process. Evolution is not merely a process acting within a space — it is a process shaped by the structure of the space it can access. This shifts the central question: What determines that accessible space? **A Minimal Computational Model** To make this concrete, consider a simple toy model. We define: a sequence space a mutation operator a constraint that restricts transitions **Basic setup** L = 20; randomSeq[] := RandomInteger[{0, 1}, L]; mutate[s_] := ReplacePart[s, RandomInteger[{1, L}] -> 1 - #] & @ s; **Fitness function** fitness[s_] := Boole[Total[s] > 12]; **Constraint energy** energy[s_] := Total[ Map[If[# === {1, 1}, 0, 1] &, Partition[s, 2, 1]] ]; **Dynamics: constrained vs unconstrained** stepConstrained[s_] := Module[{s2 = mutate[s]}, If[constraint[s, s2], s2, s] ]; stepRandom[s_] := mutate[s]; **Search experiment** findFunctional[step_, max_] := Module[ {s = randomSeq[], t = 0}, While[t < max && !TrueQ[fitness[s] == 1], s = step[s]; t++; ]; t ]; trialsConstrained = Table[ findFunctional[stepConstrained, 1000], {50} ]; trialsRandom = Table[ findFunctional[stepRandom, 1000], {50} ]; **Visualization** Histogram[ {trialsRandom, trialsConstrained}, ChartLegends -> {"Random", "Constrained"}, PlotTheme -> "Scientific", Frame -> True ] **Interpretation** In many runs, the constrained dynamics reaches functional states faster — not because the system is explicitly guided toward a target, but because the structure of the space itself has changed. Even in this minimal model, a key effect emerges: Pure random mutation behaves like unstructured search Even a simple constraint dramatically reshapes accessibility The constraint does not “guide” the system toward solutions. Instead, it reshapes the space such that functional paths become possible in the first place. **Open Questions** This raises several structural questions: - How can we formally define a constraint operator in general systems? - Can constraint-induced subspaces be measured or classified? - How does connectivity emerge in high-dimensional spaces under constraints? - Do constrained systems exhibit characteristic spectral signatures (e.g., non-random eigenvalue statistics)? **Closing Thought** The difference between intractable search and effective evolution may not lie in time or randomness — but in the geometry of the accessible space itself. Maurice Crutzen 2026-04-07T09:31:01Z https://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/3529968 ![Shape vs. motion, Gestalt and Point light walkers: translating from P5.JS processing to Wolfram][1] &[Wolfram Notebook][2] [1]: https://community.wolfram.com//c/portal/getImageAttachment?filename=9158animation.gif&userId=20103 [2]: https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/e22d2912-31e7-4cfc-8f70-079638761437 Vitaliy Kaurov 2025-08-13T06:46:29Z https://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/3762876 &[Wolfram Notebook][1] [1]: https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/e4b74567-4b6a-4766-9fea-137b498f478f Paula Botella Andreu 2026-07-17T00:13:05Z https://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/3762800 ![Limits of Multi-Objective Adaptive Evolution for Cellular Automata][1] &[Wolfram Notebook][2] [1]: https://community.wolfram.com//c/portal/getImageAttachment?filename=FrontImage.png&userId=3646156 [2]: https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/01e041c4-4c93-4e56-96f8-d315114630da Laura Perilla 2026-07-17T06:25:31Z https://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/3763335 ![Evolving Circles: Adaptive Search in a Cellular Automaton Rule Space][1] &[Wolfram Notebook][2] [1]: https://community.wolfram.com//c/portal/getImageAttachment?filename=her13.png&userId=3760096 [2]: https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/127cd5bc-632e-4933-9e64-3170c8a8d69f Jhoan Eduardo Saldarriaga Serna 2026-07-17T05:45:23Z https://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/3763308 ![Three different visualizations of a cellular automaton under absence and presence of noise.][1] &[Wolfram Notebook][2] [1]: https://community.wolfram.com//c/portal/getImageAttachment?filename=FINALIMAGE.png&userId=3672974 [2]: https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/5be46df8-4b8b-4d4a-9fe5-103e9f7c131a Maria Renza 2026-07-17T03:25:07Z https://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/3763024 ![Evolutionary Dynamics in Changing Environments][1] &[Wolfram Notebook][2] [1]: https://community.wolfram.com//c/portal/getImageAttachment?filename=CrazyPlot2-AnushaPedro.png&userId=3710719 [2]: https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/388f7f0d-49ea-47fb-a62c-234aa8d6de42 Anusha Asthana 2026-07-16T23:33:23Z https://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/3762337 ![Where Will It Settle? Exploring Polymer Folding with Minimal Discrete Models][1] &[Wolfram Notebook][2] [1]: https://community.wolfram.com//c/portal/getImageAttachment?filename=IMAGEMAIN.jpeg&userId=20103 [2]: https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/29f43ff0-1743-4368-9733-24a19f409181 Christoph Steck 2026-07-16T19:46:55Z https://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/3762192 ![Modularizing K-12 Instruction in Computational Thinking][1] &[Wolfram Notebook][2] [1]: https://community.wolfram.com//c/portal/getImageAttachment?filename=MCTFinal.png&userId=3760260 [2]: https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/8fe7b019-a94d-42d3-bd12-8f7ef1d12956 Julian Jacklin 2026-07-16T18:06:54Z https://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/3753679 ![An algorithm for the placement of a self-balancing prehensile tail on a leaning mass][1] &[Wolfram Notebook][2] [1]: https://community.wolfram.com//c/portal/getImageAttachment?filename=FinalModelScreenshot.png&userId=3753248 [2]: https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/60b0cb02-9607-4f2e-8b8f-00815147d10a Samvarth Raj 2026-07-09T23:58:39Z https://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/3754125 ![Circadian-based optimization of personalized sleep schedules][1] &[Wolfram Notebook][2] [1]: https://community.wolfram.com//c/portal/getImageAttachment?filename=Screenshot2026-07-09at7.30.59%E2%80%AFPM.png&userId=3753710 [2]: https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/3669d397-cad8-4514-a1a4-b75db3a2d62e Warren Chen 2026-07-10T00:58:00Z https://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/3754163 ![Constructing a combinatorial glycan isomer calculator for GXM in Cryptococcus neoformans][1] &[Wolfram Notebook][2] [1]: https://community.wolfram.com//c/portal/getImageAttachment?filename=thumbnail.png&userId=3748436 [2]: https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/b31e39b5-e31a-42d9-87a8-de8dc5c10cd1 Annabella Sakunkoo (Koo) 2026-07-10T01:48:17Z https://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/3754199 ![Mapping structure-activity relationships and shape similarity in CYP11B1 inhibitors][1] &[Wolfram Notebook][2] [1]: https://community.wolfram.com//c/portal/getImageAttachment?filename=titleimg.png&userId=3751401 [2]: https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/016809dc-667c-4a9b-9a80-879e9d234df3 Saketh Lingisetty 2026-07-10T02:02:24Z https://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/3753019 ![Analysing the rotational kinetic chain of a cross punch][1] &[Wolfram Notebook][2] [1]: https://community.wolfram.com//c/portal/getImageAttachment?filename=newPunch.png&userId=3751686 [2]: https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/a609a921-f3b4-4a3a-b03a-c4b3f771adb3 Nicholas Zhan 2026-07-09T21:41:31Z https://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/3752848 ![Computational glycan mapping for down syndrome-associated IgG glycosylation][1] &[Wolfram Notebook][2] [1]: https://community.wolfram.com//c/portal/getImageAttachment?filename=DSglycan.png&userId=3744220 [2]: https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/6ea0bc05-198b-4b9e-9b44-f0a20b027fe0 Aashrith Tatineni 2026-07-09T21:40:28Z https://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/3752559 ![A cellular automata model of stigmergic agent swarms][1] &[Wolfram Notebook][2] [1]: https://community.wolfram.com//c/portal/getImageAttachment?filename=coverpicture.png&userId=3752174 [2]: https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/aaravgupta201201/Published/643735499.nb Aarav Gupta 2026-07-09T21:35:18Z https://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/3752821 ![Investigating shifting monarch butterfly migratory patterns][1] &[Wolfram Notebook][2] [1]: https://community.wolfram.com//c/portal/getImageAttachment?filename=WSRP_2026_listofPopandTempMaps.gif&userId=20103 [2]: https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/f916f4a2-d862-47a8-bbed-016b7c1a29aa Ava Fan 2026-07-09T21:20:29Z https://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/3752237 ![Modelling neuronal cascades with sandpile dynamics on synaptic connectivity graphs][1] &[Wolfram Notebook][2] [1]: https://community.wolfram.com//c/portal/getImageAttachment?filename=HeroImage.png&userId=3751033 [2]: https://www.wolframcloud.com/obj/eeecf40e-744e-4699-9037-9c8f0c938236 Gaurika Gautam 2026-07-09T20:59:42Z