Earlier this month, in the article Allergy & Cancer: Is There A Connection?, I wrote: Maybe one day scientists will crack the code of the intricate immune system, and diseases like cancer and allergies will be things of the past.

A few days after I wrote the above sentence, AndhraNews.net reported that a team of mathematicians in the United Kingdom is trying to do just that.

The goal of the Immunology Imaging and Modeling Project, funded by the UK's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), is to create a theoretical and computational model of the body's immune system.

‘A multi and cross-disciplinary, cohesive, and active approach is urgently required. The ability to track parasites and cells in real time using novel imaging techniques is allowing exciting new insights and will help us measure the interactions between the different parts of the immune system. This will provide a theoretical and computational model of the immune system, giving a complete picture that researchers from across all disciplines can refer to and draw upon,’ says Dr. Carmen Molina-Paris, researcher at the University of Leeds. ‘Mathematical immunology is maturing into a discipline where modeling helps everyone to interpret data and resolve controversies. Most importantly, it suggests novel experiments allowing for better and more quantitative interpretations.’