During recent years, physical modeling has become increasingly important to generate insights into intracellular processes. Many times it is essential to consider both the spatial and stochastic nature of chemical reactions to be able to capture the relevant dynamics of biochemical systems. In this review, which is currently in press for Nature Methods, Fange and Mahmutovic discuss when to use, and when not to use, different models to achieve the best possible balance between speed and physical accuracy.

Different levels of quantitative modeling frameworks for intracellular chemistry.