Microbiome math (IMAGE)

Carnegie Institution for Science

Microbiome math

Caption

The microbiome is complex due to many interacting species. Ludington and his team sought to deconstruct this complexity by calculating the geometric structure of the interactions. Their method measures interactions in high dimensional space, considering each species to have its own dimension. One analogy for understanding the mathematical structure is to think of it as foam being simplified into a single bubble by progressively merging adjacent bubbles.

Credit

Wikimedia Commons

Usage Restrictions

Public domain

License

Licensed content

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.