Los algoritmos de la vida : Matemáticas, biología, virus y pandemias

Why does the mathematics used to predict telecommunications network traffic also help us understand how an epidemic spreads? Why is a strain that is 70% more contagious worse than one that is 70% more lethal? How can our immune system recognize ten million different patterns? Why do we share more genes with viruses than with other primates? What enables a bacterium to "eat rocks," whereas we can only feed on other living beings? What do viruses and exponential functions have in common? Mª Teresa Herrero, an engineer specializing in complex systems, uses mathematical rigor to unravel the patterns hidden behind epidemics: the exponential functions that turn an isolated case into a global crisis, the statistical models that predict the behavior of entire populations, and the equations that reveal why a viral mutation can alter the course of history. With the precision of someone who analyzed coronavirus pandemic data and the clarity of a gifted science communicator, she reveals how mathematics and biology join forces to explain everything from viral mutations to transmission networks. For on an overpopulated and interconnected planet, only by understanding the numbers can we be prepared for the next pandemic. Right now, as you read these lines, your immune system is fighting off at least eight different viruses without you even realizing it. An army of specialized cells patrols your body, distinguishing between the million friendly bacteria you need to survive and the invaders that could harm you. It is the most sophisticated battle in the universe, and it is waged in the realm of the invisible.