This TED Talk features mathematician Irina KRIVA, recorded live at TED-At-Mirk, K-G-A-Darmstadt, Germany, 2017.

I am a translator. I translate from biology into mathematics and vice versa. I write mathematical models,

which in my case are systems of differential equations,

to describe biological mechanisms such as cell growth.

Essentially, it works like this.

First, I identify the key elements that I believe may be driving behavior over time

of a particular mechanism.

Then I formulate assumptions about how these elements interact with each other

and with their environment.

It may look something like this.

Then I translate these assumptions into equations,

which may look something like this.

Finally, I analyze my equations and translate the results back into the language of biology.

A key aspect of mathematical modeling is that we, as modelers, do not think about what things are.

We think about what they do. We think about relationships between individuals, whether they be

cells, animals animals or people,

and how they interact with each other and with their environment.

Let me give you an example.

What do foxes and immune cells have in common?

They're both predators,

except foxes feed on rabbits

and immune cells feed on invaders, such as cancer cells.

...