Overview

CompuCell is an open source modeling environment and pde solver, primarly used to study cellular behavior. CompuCell was initially developed to help researchers (biologists and physicists) model materials and tissues without having to dedicate resources to developing code that will reproduce existing software. The code is built on C++ with a Python wrapper. Users can easily define model parameters in an XML file and run the simulation with our GUI, the CompuCell Player. The GUI gives users an easy interface to complex models as well as real time visualization of their simulations.

CPM: Foundations for Tissue

CompuCell is based on the Cellular Potts Model (CPM). While the Potts model was originally developed to study ferromagentic and crystalline systems. In the late 80's and 90's, Fran?ois Graner and James Glazier extended the Potts model to study the coarsening of foam and sorting of biological cells. Since then modelers have continued to use the CPM to study foam, morphogenesis, biofilms, cancer, as well as many other biological and physical systems.