Organic 2 by AMagill on Flickr.
Morphogenesis & Pattern Formation
Mathematical biology and Morphogenesis was the last work in which Turing worked on. He wanted to decode the markings and patterns formed in nature such as patterns on animals or patterns formed in plant structures and how they emerge. His reaction-diffusion model was the basis to understanding pattern formation.
Defining the terms.
Morphogenesis is concerned with the shapes of tissues, organs and entire organisms and the positions of the various specialized cell types. The evolutionary development of form in an organism.
Pattern formation is the creation of a predictable arrangement of cell types in space during embryonic development. The types of patterns of cell types found in animals and plants can be conveniently described as simple or complex. Pattern formation is one of four processes that underlie development, the others being growth, cell diversification, and morphogenesis.
The video above shows an experiment to show Alan Turing’s Reaction-Diffusion algorithm for morphogenesis. The video itself is quite hyponotic and reminds me of Op Art in the 60s, artists such as Bridget Riley, who used monochrome patterns to create optical illusions. Pattern formation could be a good angle to work with due to the abstract approach this could take me.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/morphogenesis
http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/m/morphogenesis.htm
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/pattern+formation
This was what my dissertation was about.
