Application of formal methods to biological regulatory networks: extending Thomas' asynchronous logical approach with temporal logic

Based on the discrete definition of biological regulatory networks developed by Rene Thomas, we provide a computer science formal approach to treat temporal properties of biological regulatory networks, expressed in computational tree logic. It is then possible to build all the models satisfying a set of given temporal properties. Our approach is illustrated with the mucus production in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This application of formal methods from computer science to biological regulatory networks should open the way to many other fruitful applications. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.