A Domain Model of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis

Experimentation with simulations of complex systems can be used to gain insights into those systems’ nature and operation. Such in silico experimentation represents a valuable tool that can complement conventional in vivo experimentation. Validation of a simulation’s representation of the real world system remains an open question in complex systems research. As the engineer of a complex system simulation, demonstrating one’s understanding of the complex system through the creation of models which can be validated by a domain expert affords some degree of confidence that the results obtained through in silico experimentation are representative of the real world system. As a precursor to the creation of simulations of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, a complex autoimmune disease in mice, we present here a model of the disease. The models are expressed using UML, and their construction has afforded insight into UML’s expressive capabilities when applied to complex system modelling.