Mathematical biology/Theoretical biology[1] (also called less often Biomathematics) includes at least four major subfields: Biological mathematical modeling, Relational biology/Complex systems biology (CSB), Bioinformatics and Computational biomodeling/biocomputing, and is an interdisciplinary research field of academic study with a wide range of applications in Biology, Medicine[2] and Biotechnology[3] which aims at the mathematical representation, treatment and modeling of biological processes using a variety of applied mathematical techniques and tools. It has both theoretical and practical applications in biological, biomedical and biotechnology research; for example, in cell biology, protein interactions are often represented as "cartoon" models, which, although easy to visualize, do not accurately describe the systems studied: in order to do this, precise mathematical models are required, which, by describing the systems in a quantitative manner, can better simulate their behavior and hence predict properties that may not be at all immediately evident to the experimenter.
Population dynamics
Population dynamics has traditionally been the dominant field of mathematical biology. Work in this area dates back to the 19th century. The Lotka–Volterra predator-prey equations are a famous example. In the past 30 years, population dynamics has been complemented by evolutionary game theory, developed first by John Maynard Smith. Under these dynamics, evolutionary biology concepts may take a deterministic mathematical form. Population dynamics overlap with another active area of research in mathematical biology: mathematical epidemiology, the study of infectious disease affecting populations. Various models of viral spread have been proposed and analysed, and provide important results that may be applied to health policy decisions.