A community approach to whole-cell modeling

Cells are the smallest unit of life, yet are considered a grand challenge within the biological modeling community. A comprehensive model of a cell will represent all aspects of cell biology, reflecting dynamic and multiscale structural information and systems understanding such as metabolic networks and protein signaling networks. Such an undertaking requires participation from all subdisciplines of biology, chemistry, physics, and computer science. In this review, we highlight the recent progress in the whole-cell modeling field. In addition, we discuss a significant challenge for any whole-cell modeling framework, namely organizing, annotating, and archiving the required input data. Thus, community-wide engagement in establishing standards and archiving practices will be essential as the field moves forward. Toward this challenge, we take lessons learned from existing community efforts that have demonstrated the need and usefulness of community efforts in solving challenging scientific endeavors.

Automated summary

Cells, as the smallest unit of life, pose a grand challenge in biological modeling. Establishing a comprehensive model of a cell requires collaboration across various disciplines and community-wide efforts to establish standards and archiving practices. This highlights the importance of community engagement in solving challenging scientific endeavors.