{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T18:27:32Z","timestamp":1783621652589,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"The Company of Biologists","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,23]],"date-time":"2026-06-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782172800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":22,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Mathematical and computational modelling can do far more than reproduce experimental data or make predictions. When used with intent, models become instruments of discovery: they translate qualitative biological ideas into quantitative, testable hypotheses; they connect microscopic questions to macroscopic data; and, crucially, they help falsify plausible but incorrect mechanistic narratives. This Perspective explores how modelling achieves these goals. I begin by outlining why classical experimental strategies and conventional statistics sometimes fall short of addressing the mechanisms we care about. I then present a model-centred workflow for scientific discovery, using clonal lineage tracing as a running example. The second half focuses on a phenomenon that both limits and empowers model inference \u2013 universality \u2013 and explains how to turn it from a curse into an opportunity. I conclude with a concise, practical guide that distils these ideas into steps for day-to-day biomedical research.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1242\/dmm.052807","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,23]],"date-time":"2026-06-23T08:16:11Z","timestamp":1782202571000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["A modeller's guide for biomedical discovery"],"prefix":"10.1242","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5247-6738","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Philip","family":"Greulich","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Southampton 1 School of Mathematical Sciences, , Southampton SO17 1BJ ,","place":["UK"]},{"name":"University of Southampton 2 Institute for Life Sciences , , SO17 1BJ ,","place":["UK"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"237","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026062304153269000_DMM052807C1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"615","DOI":"10.1038\/ncb2963","article-title":"Differentiation imbalance in single oesophageal progenitor cells causes clonal immortalization and field change","volume":"16","author":"Alcolea","year":"2014","journal-title":"Nat. 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