Combining experimental and theoretical approaches to enlighten the functioning of molecular processes in the cell is a main goal in systems biology.
Theoretical modelling of biological systems in particular will become more and more important to reduce wet lab experiments for target finding.
Based on qualitative Petri net models, a minimal set of basic pathways at steady state, the transition invariants (T-invariants) or elementary modes, respectively, can be computed. In the case of complex and large networks, the number of T-invariants increases exponentially.
Thus, new concepts for further network decomposition into biologically meaningful pathways have been developed, such as MCT-sets, T-clusters, and Mauritius maps.
For this reason the Tina Tool Team has developed a software tool which compiles all these concepts providing a user-friendly interface and various interfaces to Petri nets and systems biology standards.
