Drifting or swimming in an ocean current.
Simulations for a population of hatchling turtles that are drifting or swimming in a section of the North Atlantic. Active swimmers are given a bias in a beneficial Southerly direction. For more details, see the following article and references therein.
K.J. Painter and T. Hillen (2018). From random walks to fully anisotropic diffusion models for cell and animal movement.
High resolution movie (warning big file).
Cell Streams in the Extracellular Matrix
Simulation of mesenchymal cells (low to high densities indicated by white to red colormap) moving through and aligning the ECM. The positive feedback of contact guidance and matrix remodelling organises cells along "cellular highways"
K.J. Painter (2009). Modelling cell migration strategies in the extracellular matrix. Journal of Mathematical Biology. 58, 511-543.
High resolution movie (warning big file).
Turing's labyrinth.
A Turing type reaction-diffusion model generating a labyrinth pattern. As time proceeds, the labyrinth rearranges. Note that time accelerates as the simulation proceeds. Some review articles:
P.K. Maini, K.J. Painter and H. Chau (1997). Spatial pattern formation in chemical and biological systems. Journal of Chemical Society Faraday Transactions, 93, 3601-3610.
High resolution movie (warning big file).
Turing patterns across parameter space
Different patterns, from spots to stripes to uniformity are obtained as you move through parameter space for a reaction-diffusion model exhibiting Turing instabilities.
K.J. Painter, G.Hunt, K. Wells, J. Johanneson, D.J. Headon (2012). Towards an integrated experimental–theoretical approach for assessing the mechanistic basis of hair and feather morphogenesis. Interface Focus 2, 433-450.