Modelling proportionate growth

TL;DR

This paper presents a simple local-rule-based model explaining proportionate growth in animals, where organs grow at the same rate, maintaining their relative sizes without fine-tuning parameters.

Contribution

It introduces a novel, parameter-free model demonstrating how proportionate growth can emerge naturally from local interactions.

Findings

Model produces large structures with sharp boundaries.

Structures grow at the same rate, preserving shape.

No fine-tuning needed for proportionate growth.

Abstract

An important question in biology is how the relative size of different organs is kept nearly constant during growth of an animal. This property, called proportionate growth, has received increased attention in recent years. We discuss our recent work on a simple model where this feature comes out quite naturally from local rules, without fine tuning any parameter. The patterns produced are composed of large distinguishable structures with sharp boundaries, all of which grow at the same rate, keeping their overall shapes unchanged.