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Center for Nonlinear Studies |
Since 2002, the SARS virus has become a global threat that is capable of generating considerable damage. We developed a model to simulate the infection pattern of SARS in lung tissue, which can help better our understanding of how viruses interact with and penetrate our first line of defense, the epithelial tissue. In the model we not only considered the infection of the SARS virus, but also considered the effect of the continuous mucous flow, driven by cilia beating, on the spread of the virus. We used an agent-based model to simulate the cell-level infection dynamics of SARS, and coupled it with a continuous model for the constant mucous flow pattern. Currently, we are comparing the simulated infection dynamics with available experimental data for lung epithelial tissues. In the future, we will incorporate the cilia beating into the continuous mucus flow pattern. This will allow us to observe the changes in the flow pattern and infection dynamics as a consequence of infected ciliated cells.
Host: Yi Jiang T-07