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Created by: Paul Macklin and Heber Rocha

Issue 345: 3D simulation of a tumor under attack by the immune system, constructed entirely with plain language cell behavior hypotheses that are automatically converted to simulation code. Cancer cells (pale blue) grow and divide but deplete oxygen, leading to hypoxia and necrotic death (white center). The cell death attracts macrophages (red) who switch to an inflammatory state (yellow) to guide cytotoxic T cells (blue and magenta) that attack the tumor. Macrophages and T cells can form temporary aggregates, and cell-cell communication is critical to successful tumor infiltration. Intuitively building and exploring the rules of cell behaviors allows scientists to tease out these interactions and visualize the dynamics of the evolving tumor ecosystem. In the article, we use these rules to create a virtual laboratory where teams can easily build models in plain human language without writing computer code, and explore how combining therapies can alter the rules to improve immune infiltration and tumor control. (See here for an animation).