Filipino mathematicians built a new tool. It helps scientists study life better. The University of the Philippines Diliman College of Science made the breakthrough.
Scientists often use computers to study biology. They test how molecules move and change. They enter numbers into a computer program. Each test shows only one result.
Many biological facts remain unknown. Some numbers are hard to measure. Conditions change all the time. Running tests over and over takes too much time.
Three experts solved this problem. Exequiel Jun Villejo worked on the project. Dr. Aurelio de los Reyes V joined him. Dr. Bryan Hernandez helped lead the team. They all work at the Institute of Mathematics.
They made a new computer program. The tool has a special name. It is called CRITERIA. This stands for Computing paRametrized posITive EquilibRIA.
The tool automates biology studies. It does not use simple number tests. Instead, it finds math formulas. These formulas show steady states in life systems.
Dr. Hernandez talked about the new method. The team used a broad approach. They found math rules. These rules fit biology equations at rest. They did not use fixed numbers.
“The expressions derived by CRITERIA give researchers a broader view of the system’s long-term behavior. They can help reveal properties such as whether multiple steady states are possible, how steady-state concentrations depend on reaction parameters, and which features of the system remain unchanged despite variations in those parameters,” Dr. Hernandez explained.
The team made an older tool before. It was called COMPILES. It helped find steady states in the past. It found traits in genetic switches. It studied insulin signals too.
COMPILES had limits. It failed on big networks. Some math steps cost too much time. The team needed a better way. They wanted more flexible software.
CRITERIA works in a smart way. It splits big networks into parts. Small parts are easy to study.
“Like COMPILES, CRITERIA first breaks a biochemical reaction network into smaller pieces. This makes the system easier to analyze than treating the entire network all at once. Before the steady states can be computed, these smaller pieces need to satisfy certain mathematical conditions. CRITERIA uses a more efficient procedure to achieve these required conditions,” Dr. Hernandez said.
The old tool had a flaw. It solved small parts first. Then it combined them. This created messy formulas.
CRITERIA does the reverse. It combines parts first. Then it finds the steady states. This avoids messy math errors.
The team tested the new tool. They used 26 standard models.
“We tested this improvement using 26 benchmark biological models to compare the performance of the method,” Dr. Hernandez added. “COMPILES was unable to complete 11 of these models within one hour, while CRITERIA completed all 26, with most computations finishing within only a few seconds.”
Biology asks hard questions. Scientists want to know how cells act. Molecules interact over long times. CRITERIA helps answer these questions.
Many biological facts are hidden. Some numbers are too costly to find. CRITERIA solves this issue. It skips the need for exact numbers.
The tool aids health research. It can study diseases. Scientists can build disease models. They can check how cells switch states. They can track stable molecules.
The study has a formal name. It is called “CRITERIA: A network decomposition and elementary flux mode translation-based tool for computing equilibria of biochemical systems.”
The work is now public. It is printed in PLOS Computational Biology. This journal shares top science news. It focuses on computer tools for life systems.
This tool opens new doors. Women and children need good health care. Disease research helps save lives. Better math tools lead to cures. Science grows stronger every day.