Graph Theory and Networks in Biology

TL;DR

This survey reviews how graph theory techniques are applied to biological networks, covering structure modeling, centrality measures, motifs, and the relationship between network properties and biological dynamics.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in applying graph theoretical methods to understand biological network structures and functions.

Findings

Identification of key network motifs in biological systems

Application of centrality measures to biological interaction networks

Insights into how network structure influences dynamics like synchronization and disease spread

Abstract

In this paper, we present a survey of the use of graph theoretical techniques in Biology. In particular, we discuss recent work on identifying and modelling the structure of bio-molecular networks, as well as the application of centrality measures to interaction networks and research on the hierarchical structure of such networks and network motifs. Work on the link between structural network properties and dynamics is also described, with emphasis on synchronization and disease propagation.