Biomaton: a platform for the visualisation, analysis and computation of biological models

Biological simulations with large parametric spaces can require immense computational power and complex visualizations to provide comprehensive model analyses. As a result, published simulation results often cover only a small subset of model parameters. While the release of the simulation code is becoming a publication requirement, there are no coding standards for simulations (in terms of programming language or framework). This can represent a significant hurdle to validating model results and further exploration of the parametric space of the model by other researchers, or the wider public. We developed a platform, called ‘biomaton’, for the distribution, computation and visualization of a wide range of biological models. Biomaton is cloud-based and allows users to explore and analyze, through a simple user interface, the parametric spaces of published models uploaded to the platform. Biomaton supports multiple programming languages, and can be extended to support virtually any visualization type. We foresee the platform as a means to make mathematical and computational biological models more accessible to researchers, as well as to be used as an educational tool providing accessible visualizations of models dynamics and results.