XXXIVth Seminar of the French-Speaking Society for Theoretical Biology: Saint-Flour (Cantal), France, 26-28 May, 2014.

Abstract

Historically, theoretical biology was built on mathematics in Europe. The FrenchSpeaking Society of Theoretical Biology (SFBT), strong with a long tradition in biomathematics, federates theoretical biology in French-Speaking countries and France in particular. For several years now, with the increase of computational means and the development of research in the domain of complex systems, the framework of theoretical biology evolved towards more computational approaches. The Spring School 2012 of the SFBT reflected this trend by addressing the theme of numerical experimentations and hybrid approaches which associate continuous and discrete models. On this 2014 edition of the seminar of the society, we wished to go one step further by promoting discussions on the subject of Artificial Life. Both Theoretical Biology and Artificial Life aim to understand the Living. The difference is essentially a semantical one and is often linked to the scale at which the problem is addressed. In theoretical biology, we ‘‘make models’’, often along a topdown approach on the basis of mathematical equations. In artificial life, we ‘‘simulate virtual words’’ along a reciprocal bottom-up approach based on numerical entities. As different as they may appear and as different as the associated communities may be, their aim remains the same: deciphering the mechanisms of the Living and forecasting its evolution. The two approaches converge in the sense that each provides some elements of understanding. The first paper by Atangana ‘‘Modeling the enzyme kinetic reaction’’ is such a contribution for the understanding of enzymatic mechanisms. In the other hand, the following paper by Bedessem