
1
Introduction
In this chapter, we introduce some general concepts from control e ngineering,
and describe a number of biological systems in which feedback control (often
referred to as “regulation” in the biologica l literature) plays a fundamental
role. We discuss the history of apply ing control theoretic techniques to the
analysis of biological systems, and highlight the recent renewed interest in
this area as a result of the explosive growth in the mode lling of biological
processes in current systems bio logy research.
1.1 What is feedback control?
A control system may be defined as an interconnection of components forming
a configuration that pro ...