Research Fellow Saher Hasnain reports on a Dining with Dinosaurs seminar exploring mathematical and technological approaches to understanding health and disease with Dr Joshua Bull (Oxford Mathematical Institute) & Jonah Cool (Chan Zuckerberg Initiative).
The double feature with Jonah Cool and Joshua Bull on the intersection of human biology and mathematics demonstrated the benefits of interdisciplinary working at a recent Dining with Dinosaur’s seminar. Could this deeply mathematical and biological set of presentations still throw out a few hooks for this very-at-sea geographer? Definitely, yes! Reflecting on his experience with biological research at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Jonah Cool focused on his team’s efforts on thinking differently about human biology. With a goal as lofty as moving the needle on all disease, ‘thinking differently’ seems to be an understatement.
Much of the work around developing the Human Cell Atlas is on understanding and cataloguing the 37 trillion cells in the human body. While the Atlas is a useful resource in itself, the technological and analytical development underlying the Atlas is its biggest achievement. The work will help explain how cells develop and how specific cells and pathways contribute to disease development. The various exploration tools developed as part of the exercise are designed to assist users across the medical and research fields, from clinicians to cell biologists and data analysts.
Coming at the biology-meet-math bridge from the other side, Joshua Bull questioned why mathematics might be necessary in answering questions on biology. Can math function as a language for examining complex biological insights and interpret vibrant cellular images? Definitely, yes.
Biological information on the types of cells, locations of cells, and their attributes provides us with a lot of information, but more can be derived! Here, mathematical models can assist in describing things like how cells communicate with each other and how they might function in various situations. In concert with spatial statistics and artificial intelligence, a whole spectrum of mathematical and computational tools is needed to classify, describe, and understand biological data (and possibly, conversations with a biologist).
A truly fantastic example of successful collaboration and communication across disciplinary boundaries without a mathematical equation in sight.
