Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 1.
Results of a sample experiment showing the percentage of 50 simulations in
which the 10 unique T
H
cell agents become activated for 20 different 16-bit antigens
T
H
1T
H
2T
H
3T
H
4T
H
5T
H
6T
H
7T
H
8T
H
9T
H
10
Antigen 1
62
86
64
Antigen 2
64
62
66
70
56
70
Antigen 3
58
96
Antigen 4
60
66
62
58
68
Antigen 5
68
62
Antigen 6
84
52
82
60
84
Antigen 7
56
82
Antigen 8
66
48
64
58
Antigen 9
96
80
Antigen 10
62
62
50
Antigen 11
60
94
58
tige
12
58
68
60
68
68
Antigen 13
66
70
60
tige
14
60
90
62
72
Antigen 15
50
52
74
tige
16
62
84
64
90
56
88
Antigen 17
56
62
74
58
tige
18
54
60
58
88
60
tige
19
58
56
64
58
66
66
Antigen 20
82
60
88
90
52
6
Conclusions and Future Work
In this paper we began with a desire to investigate alternative immune ideas
for AIS inspiration and identified degeneracy as a possible candidate. By fol-
lowing the suggestions of the conceptual framework approach to bio-inspired
algorithm design [7], an abstract computational modelling exercise was chosen
to investigate degeneracy as the first step towards AIS design. Lymph nodes
were identified as being possible places where degenerate recognition would take
place by lymphocytes (in particular T
H
cells) as they are the places where the
adaptive immune response to foreign antigen in the lymph are initiated. By con-
sidering T
H
cells to be degenerate, and investigating the biological details of the
lymph node and T
H
cell activation, an abstract two-layer cellular space model
of degeneracy in the lymph node was designed and built, with sample results
highlighting the ability of randomly generated detectors to distinguish between
patterns based on their collective response. The purpose of the model we have
designed is not to explain how the collective T
H
response leads to the different
ways the immune system responds pathogens. It is, rather, an investigation into
the computational recognition capabilities of detectors based on the assumption
that these detectors are inherently degenerate.
Further work will concentrate on continuing the conceptual framework [7]
path to design and build an AIS that utilises degenerate detectors. Firstly,
