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(Circulation Research. 2000;87:955.)
© 2000 American Heart Association, Inc.

Editorial

Interactive Modeling Adds a New Dimension to Scientific Publishing

The Editors

From the Editor in Chief and Associate Editors, Circulation Research.

Correspondence to Circulation Research Editorial Office, 2700 Lighthouse Point East, Suite 230, Baltimore, MD 21224. E-mail circulation.research@circresearch.com

Key Words: modeling • scientific publishing • Internet • simulation • electrophysiology

	Introduction

 
Quantitative modeling has revolutionized modern biology. The ability to reduce biological processes to sets of equations enables us to reproduce many features of the living system: complex nonlinear systems can defy intuition, and sometimes the best way to put a given finding into perspective is to simulate it. More importantly, quantitative modeling can yield emergent insights. We do our best to generate a faithful model, alter a parameter, and solve the new model. The outcomes are often surprising, forcing us to reexamine preconceptions. Iterative interactions between the workstation and the laboratory bench motivate new biological experiments to probe the system. The results, in turn, serve to refine the model (which can only be as reliable as the biological data upon which it is based).

Scientific publishing has done little to unleash the amazing potential of quantitative modeling. The state of the art has been simply to list sets of equations in print, along with a few snapshot predictions. The field of electrophysiology is illustrative. In 1952, Hodgkin and Huxley¹ pioneered the use of modeling to rationalize their theory of excitability, which led to the general acceptance of the existence of discrete ionic currents in excitable membranes. The differential equations were listed in their article, along with selected simulations. Anyone else who wanted to implement the model and play with it had to start from scratch, laboriously translating the equations to a given programming environment before running the simulations. The exchange of information was strictly one-way. Lamentably, the publishing practices prevalent . . . [Full Text of this Article]