Neuro-symbolic approach for the biological systems and processes research

The current state and prospects for the application of neural network technology and systems built based on neural networks for studying biological systems and processes (in particular, the processes of virus-cell interaction) were considered in the article. In particular, the concept of the neuro-symbolic approach, which combines the use of neural networks and algebraic modelling, was described. The use of an algebraic approach in combination with neural networks allows us to obtain an effective formal proof of biological objects' properties (for example, cells' and viruses' properties) or processes, as well as to search for objects or the necessary values of their parameters that correspond to the specified properties. One of the experiments that we consider is applying the proposed approach to modelling and studying the process of programmed cell death (apoptosis) caused by certain types of viruses and considering the possibility of using the obtained results in medical practice (particularly in the treatment of oncological diseases). The main task of such experiments is to analyze and identify the properties of viruses capable of triggering tumour cell apoptosis and, in fact, to determine the possibility of reaching the final stage of this process under the given parameters of the virus and the cell.