Claim · 2001-06 · publication · Stated in source · Supported

Tomita's article "Whole-cell simulation: a grand challenge of the 21st century" (Trends in Biotechnology, June 2001) states that the complex behaviour of the cell cannot be determined or predicted unless a computer model of the cell is constructed, and reports that the E-CELL project has completed "a couple of" virtual cell models.

One recorded claim. The claim panel gives its qualification, the source passages with their place in each source, and how it was checked.

What it connects

Whole-cell simulation: a grand challenge of the 21st century → bears on → AI models can simulate or predict the behaviour of cells (a "virtual cell")

Where it appears

AI in science →

Claim and evidence

Whole-cell simulation: a grand challenge of the 21st centurybears on ↓AI models can simulate or predict the behaviour of cells (a "virtual cell")

Machine-checked, not reviewed by an editorStated in sourceSupported

Supporting evidence: primary · 1 source

Date: 2001-06 · publication Records dated 2001 →
Role: Context, Earliest located use of the name
Register (kind of text): Nonfiction
Name used: “virtual cell”
Missing element: No AI or machine-learning element: the virtual cell is a computer simulation built from biological data.

Scope and limitsThe record documents what this text states, in its register; it is not evidence that the proposition is true and implies no influence on or from any other text. Read in the Europe PMC record of the abstract only. The models described are simulation models, not machine-learning models.

The evidence 01

primary sourceSupports the claim

Whole-cell simulation: a grand challenge of the 21st century

Europe PMC (record of the PubMed abstract; article in Trends in Biotechnology) · 2001-06

Cite the original source

Cite the original document, not Selekoa. Check these details against it.

Source excerpt

“The E-CELL project has completed a couple of virtual cell models”

Location in source Abstract (Europe PMC record, abstractText)

How it was read Retrieved directly from the publisher

Machine-checked · 2026-10-30

Source details and check notes

Authors: Tomita M
Version: Retrieved for the candidate pack on 2026-10-30 (SHA-256 b866d3a4811141b738804f97b1bc7d239b4a59df41ac9b6f7bd94c5e3b3429a1). Europe PMC REST core record (JSON) with the abstract; the article was not retrieved.
Canonical address: Open the canonical source ↗
Accessed: 2026-10-30
Language: English (en)
Attribution: Tomita M, “Whole-cell simulation: a grand challenge of the 21st century”, 2001-06.
Reuse: No open redistribution licence asserted. Bibliographic metadata, editorial paraphrases and short attributed quotations (at most 50 words each). Recheck terms before wider redistribution.
Check notes: Candidate pack passage, AI in biology (research/ai-in-biology). The quotation (11 words) matched the text retrieved for the candidate pack on 2026-10-30. Matching ignored differences of whitespace, case, quotation marks, dashes and Unicode compatibility forms, so the source’s typography can differ. Abstract text relayed by Europe PMC's record of the PubMed abstract: the authors' own text, so primary; the journal expression was not read. The author's report of his project's work. A cross-family machine check (2026-10-30, item B99) re-read the record’s sources and found full support. No human editorial review.

Status and meaning

Editorial status. Not reviewed by an editor. An exploratory record that no editor has accepted. This status does not say whether a person has read any linked passage. Each evidence record above shows how it was checked.

Relation. A passage of the document bears on the proposition without meeting its criterion; the record names the missing element. It is not an articulation and implies no influence.

Date. Issue month as given by Europe PMC.

Record ID aib-arg-p2-tomita-2001