BioSimulators: a central registry of simulation engines and services for recommending specific tools

Shaikh B, Smith LP, Vasilescu D, Marupilla G, Wilson M, Agmon E, Agnew H, Andrews SS, Anwar A, Beber ME, Bergmann FT, Brooks D, Brusch L, Calzone L, Choi K, Cooper J, Detloff J, Drawert B, Dumontier M, Ermentrout GB, Faeder JR, Freiburger AP, Fröhlich F, Funahashi A, Garny A, Gennari JH, Gleeson P, Goelzer A, Haiman Z, Hasenauer J, Hellerstein JL, Hermjakob H, Hoops S, Ison JC, Jahn D, Jakubowski HV, Jordan R, Kalaš M, König M, Liebermeister W, Sheriff RSM, Mandal S, McDougal R, Medley JK, Mendes P, Müller R, Myers CJ, Naldi A, Nguyen TVN, Nickerson DP, Olivier BG, Patoliya D, Paulevé L, Petzold LR, Priya A, Rampadarath AK, Rohwer JM, Saglam AS, Singh D, Sinha A, Snoep J, Sorby H, Spangler R, Starruß J, Thomas PJ, Niekerk D, Weindl D, Zhang F, Zhukova A, Goldberg AP, Schaff JC, Blinov ML, Sauro HM, Moraru II, Karr JR, Nucleic Acids Research 50 (W1) :W108-W114 (2022).
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DOI
10.1093/nar/gkac331
Code
github.com/biosimulators/Biosimulators
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Abstract

Computational models have great potential to accelerate bioscience, bioengineering, and medicine. However, it remains challenging to reproduce and reuse simulations, in part, because the numerous formats and methods for simulating various subsystems and scales remain siloed by different software tools. For example, each tool must be executed through a distinct interface. To help investigators find and use simulation tools, we developed BioSimulators (https://biosimulators.org), a central registry of the capabilities of simulation tools and consistent Python, command-line and containerized interfaces to each version of each tool. The foundation of BioSimulators is standards, such as CellML, SBML, SED-ML and the COMBINE archive format, and validation tools for simulation projects and simulation tools that ensure these standards are used consistently. To help modelers find tools for particular projects, we have also used the registry to develop recommendation services. We anticipate that BioSimulators will help modelers exchange, reproduce, and combine simulations.