Self-organization, complexity and chaos: the new biology for medicine

Author: D S Coffey1
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA.
Conference/Journal: Nat Med
Date published: 1998 Aug 1
Other: Volume ID: 4 , Issue ID: 8 , Pages: 882-5 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1038/nm0898-882. , Word Count: 58


PMID: 9701230 DOI: 10.1038/nm0898-882

The self-organization of cells into complex interacting systems can be described using a branch of mathematics called nonlinear dynamics, which includes the study of chaos. Here, Donald Coffey explains how analysis of complex biological systems using nonlinear dynamics sheds light on the events leading to disorders as varied as epilepsy, heart disease and cancer