An evolutionary computing model for the study of within-host evolution

Evolution of an individual within another individual is known as within-host dynamics (WHD). The most common modeling technique to study WHD involves ordinary differential equations (ODEs). In the field of biology, models of this kind assume, for example, that both the number of viruses and the numb...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Gómez Mompeán, Antonio, Lahoz Beltrá, Rafael
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/6283
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/6283
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:51:57
575.82
Within-host evolution
Artificial immune system
Hybridization of a genetic algorithm
Evolutionary model
Anti-virus software
Intrusion detection algorithms
Biomatemáticas
Genética
2404 Biomatemáticas
2409 Genética
Descripción
Sumario:Evolution of an individual within another individual is known as within-host dynamics (WHD). The most common modeling technique to study WHD involves ordinary differential equations (ODEs). In the field of biology, models of this kind assume, for example, that both the number of viruses and the number of mouse cells susceptible to being infected change according to their interaction as stated in the ODE model. However, viruses can undergo mutations and, consequently, evolve inside the mouse, whereas the mouse, in turn, displays evolutionary mechanisms through its immune system (e.g., clonal selection), defending against the invading virus. In this work, as the main novelty, we propose an evolutionary WHD model simulating the coexistence of an evolving invader within a host. In addition, instead of using ODEs we developed an alternative methodology consisting of the hybridization of a genetic algorithm with an artificial immune system. Aside from the model, interest in biology, and its potential clinical use, the proposed WHD model may be useful in those cases where the invader exhibits evolutionary changes, for instance, in the design of anti-virus software, intrusion detection algorithms in a corporation’s computer systems, etc. The model successfully simulates two intruder detection paradigms (i.e., humoral detection, danger detection) in which the intruder represents an evolving invader or guest (e.g., virus, computer program,) that infects a host (e.g., mouse, computer memory). The obtained results open up the possibility of simulating environments in which two entities (guest versus host) compete evolutionarily with each other when occupying the same space (e.g., organ cells, computer memory, network)