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Two pairs of boolean functions in biology

Algebra & Discrete Mathematics

Speaker: Tamon Stephen, Simon Fraser University
Location: 2112 MSB
Start time: Mon, Feb 11 2013, 3:10PM

We introduce monotone boolean functions through two quite different examples from biology. The first is in metabolic networks, where they enumerate both the elementary modes and the minimal knock out strategies in a network. The second is in ancestral genome reconstruction, where they generate minimal obstacles (Conflicting Sets) to the consecutive-ones property for binary matrices.

Generating these functions is an interesting computational challenge. We use the package < cl-jointgen>, which implements an algorithm of Fredman and Khachiyan.

Parts of this work are joint with C. Chauve, U.-U. Haus, S. Klamt, M. Malekesmaeili and V. You.

Joint with Math Biology Seminar.