Section 3
Table of Contents
Section 5
4. Eden's model
The application of reaction-diffusion models is limited by one key
assumption originally made by Turing: the medium on which the
reaction-diffusion takes place, be it a surface or a line, does not grow.
One of the first computer models of growing biological structures was
proposed by Eden [Ede1960]. Eden's
model is very simple. The simulation takes place in a square grid. A
single initial particle is placed in the center of this grid. The
subsequent particles are attached, one by one, to randomly chosen points on
the border of the structure formed in the previous steps. A sample
structure obtained this way is shown in Plate 8
(see caption). The colors indicate the
state of the structure at different points in time. A structure developing
according to Eden's model is roughly circular.
Section 3
Table of Contents
Section 5