=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=None
|storemode=property
|title=Introduction
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-827/1_ClaudineChaouiya_introduction.pdf
|volume=Vol-827
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/acsd/ChaouiyaH10
}}
==Introduction==
<pdf width="1500px">https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-827/1_ClaudineChaouiya_introduction.pdf</pdf>
<pre>
Introduction

This chapter contains the nine peer-reviewed contributions of the First International
Workshop on Biological Processes & Petri Nets (BioPPN 2010), held as a satellite
event of PETRI NETS 2010, in Braga, Portugal, at June 21, 2010. This workshop
has been organised as a communication platform for researchers interested in the
application of Petri nets in the broad field of integrative biology.
    Integrative biology aims at deciphering essential biological processes that are
driven by complex mechanisms, involving miscellaneous interacting molecular com-
pounds. In this context, the need for appropriate mathematical and computational
modelling tools is widely advocated. Petri nets have proved their usefulness for the
modelling, analysis, and simulation of a diversity of biological networks, covering
qualitative, stochastic, continuous and hybrid models. The deployment of Petri nets
to study biological applications has not only generated original models, but has also
motivated fundamental research.
   We received two types of contributions: research papers and work-in-progress
papers. All have been reviewed by four to five referees coming from or being recom-
mended by the workshop’s Program Committee. In summary, the workshop proceed-
ings enclose theoretical contributions as well as biological applications, demonstrating
the interdisciplinary nature of the topic.
    The workshop was complemented by an invited talk Why aren’t Petri nets widely
used in biological research? given by Jorge Carneiro from Instituto Gulbenkian de
Ciência (IGC, Oeiras, Portugal). He argued that software tools for stochastic Petri
nets are well-suited for engineering artificial systems, but do not yet offer all the
functionalities one would wish to have at hand when modelling a natural biological
system. He used two application examples of stochastic Petri nets to illustrate his
concerns – modelling somatic recombination of immune receptor genes and ion channel
gating in sea urchin spermatozoa.
    The workshop gathered about 30 researchers actively working on or merely in-
terested in the application of Petri nets to biological processes. Its main goal was to
demonstrate that this field of application raises new challenges and that Petri nets can
be highly effective to tackle such challenges. We take the lively discussion throughout
the whole day of workshop as proof that this goal had been reached. For more de-
tails see the workshop website http://www-dssz.informatik.tu-cottbus.de/BME/
BioPPN2010.


   Claudine Chaouiya
Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, IGC
Oeiras, Portugal
chaouiya@igc.gulbenkian.pt
   Monika Heiner
Brandenburg University of Technology at Cottbus
Computer Science Institute, Germany
monika.heiner@informatik.tu-cottbus.de
Program Committee
 • David Angeli, I, UK
 • Gianfranco Balbo, I
 • Rainer Breitling, NL
 • David Gilbert, UK
 • Simon Hardy, CA
 • Ralf Hofestädt, D
 • Peter Kemper, US
 • Hanna Klaudel, F
 • Kurt Lautenbach, D
 • Wolfgang Marwan, D
 • Eduardo Mendoza, Philippines, D
 • Satoru Miyano, JP
 • P.S. Thiagarajan, SG

</pre>