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Fractal geometry in mosaic organs: a new interpretation of mosaic pattern
Author(s) -
Iannaccone P. M.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.4.5.2307328
Subject(s) - fractal , geometry , fractal dimension , mosaic , euclidean geometry , fractal analysis , process (computing) , interpretation (philosophy) , biology , branching (polymer chemistry) , mathematics , anatomy , computer science , chemistry , mathematical analysis , geography , archaeology , organic chemistry , programming language , operating system
Fractal geometries have been widely observed in nature. The formulation of mathematical treatments of non‐Euclidean geometry has generated models of highly complex natural phenomena. In the field of developmental biology, branching morphogenesis has been explained in terms of self‐similar iterating branching rules that have done much toward explaining branch patterns observed in a range of real tissue. In solid viscera the problem is more complicated because there is no readily available marker of geometry in parenchymal tissue. Mosaic pattern provides such a marker. The patches observed in mosaic liver are shown to be fractal, indicating that the pattern may have arisen from a self‐similar process (i.e., a process that creates an object in which small areas are representative of, although not necessarily identical to, the whole object). This observation offers a new analytical approach to the study of biologic structure in organogenesis.— I annaccone , P. M. Fractal geometry in mosaic organs: a new interpretation of mosaic pattern. FASEB J. 4: 1508‐1512; 1990.