Maths Meets Biology: Inside the Mission to Model a Living Cell - Part 1

About this episode

This episode explores the intersection of mathematics and biology in modeling living cells, featuring insights from leading researchers.

Understanding a living cell is one of the biggest challenges in modern science. Cells carry out an extraordinary number of tasks every second and understanding how all those processes fit together is central to biology. But even with advanced experiments and mountains of data, scientists still don’t have a complete picture of what a cell does – or how it might respond to new conditions or interventions. The ARC Centre of Excellence for the Mathematical Analysis of Cellular Systems – or MACSYS – aims to change that. MACSYS brings together mathematicians and computational scientists to work alongside biologists toward a bold goal: creating a predictive, fully computational model of a cell. The Random Sample is excited to partner with MACSYS as our principal new partner organisation. To introduce you to the Centre’s work, we’re bringing you a two-part series. This first episode takes a mathematical lens, featuring two of the Centre’s mathematical modellers and Chief investigators: UNSW Professor Adelle Coster and QUT Professor Mat Simpson. Together, we explore how modelling helps make sense of biological data, how collaboration across…

People in this episode

Host: Tim Macuga

Guests: Adelle Coster, Mat Simpson

Topics covered

• cell biology
• mathematical modeling
• interdisciplinary collaboration
• computational science
• biological data analysis

Keywords

• living cell
• mathematical modeling
• biological processes
• data analysis
• cellular systems

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: ARC Centre of Excellence for the Mathematical Analysis of Cellular Systems, MACSYS, UNSW, QUT

More episodes of The Random Sample

• From Granular to Nano: Big Science at Small Scales – with Prof Natalie Thamwattana · May 27, 2026 · 44 min
• Tracking the Spread of Vaccine Hesitancy - with Prof Stacey Smith? · May 11, 2026 · 42 min
• What Maths can tell us about Women's Health - with Prof Alys Clark & Dr Claire Miller · May 11, 2026 · 46 min
• Game Theory: The Mathematics of Strategic Choices - with Dr Maria Kleshnina · May 6, 2026 · 59 min
• The Kalman Filter: The Mathematics of Knowing Where You Are · April 22, 2026 · 38 min
• Maths Meets Biology: Inside the Mission to Model a Living Cell - Part 2 · April 8, 2026 · 36 min