Ms Kylie Hogan

Honours thesis

Mathematical Modelling of Oxygen Consumption by Embryos

Mathematical modelling of biological systems has become an important area of research in recent years. Mathematicians are working in conjunction with biologists to gain further insight into biological phenomena. These insights are used to make predictions and help guide further experimentation. There are many examples in the literature of mathematical models being used to aid the understanding of biological systems. Of particular interest here is research by Houghton et al. [15] aimed at determining the oxygen consumption rate by embryos. This paper omits important details in relation to the model and contains inaccuracies both in its parameter value estimates and in its assumptions regarding the oxygen consumption rate. The purpose of this thesis is to re-evaluate the model in attempt to overcome these flaws.