Simulations are constructed based on data that is either culled from experiments conducted in the labs or from other scientific research. High powered Paragon and Delta computers, or the massive machines in the Super Computer Centers in Pittsburgh and San Diego are often used to actually run the intricate fabrications. The GENESIS software program also comes equipped with tutorials, along with a textbook aptly entitled The Book of Genesis, to teach people how to use the software.

"The model itself is made up of small compartments comprising each part of the nerve cell, like the axons that send signals to other neurons, or the ion channels, which are essentially holes that let electrical charges pass through the cell," explains Jenny Forss, a young computer scientist on loan to the Bower lab from Stockholm's Royal Institute of Technology. "GENESIS lets you create these small pieces of the cell, and plug in specific properties of cells. Then you can perform experiments on your model."

Above, model of a single Purkinje cell, created with GENESIS by Erik De Schutter and James Bower. This simulation uses 4550 different compartments and 8021 channels.

To illustrate, Forss brings up on her computer screen a model of a nerve cell resembling the stick figure outline of a stunted tree. Then she taps a command on the keyboard, and suddenly the nerve cell jumps as if hit by a bolt of lightening -- which is pretty much what happened in virtual space. "When you inject a little current in the soma -- the cell body -- then you can see what happens with the rest of the cell," Jenny explains, in her lilting English, with its slight trace of an accent. "And maybe you can observe something in the model you couldn't see in a real cell, which can give you a lead to where you want to go next in your research."

--Linda Marsa