Probabilistic model checking of biological systems with uncertain kinetic rates

Abstract

In this paper, we present a formalization of biological systems based on multiset rewriting and we investigate the use of abstract interpretation on its semantics. We consider a probabilistic semantics, which is well suited to represent the non-deterministic evolution of real biological systems. Abstract interpretation allows us to deal with systems in which the kinetic rates of the evolution rules are not precisely known. On the (abstract) systems, we perform probabilistic model checking obtaining lower and upper bounds for the probabilities of reaching states satisfying the given properties. We apply abstract probabilistic model checking to verify reachability properties in a model of tumor growth.