approaches ...
Mass action models fit to expermial conditions specially to chemostat but realistic to communities
Populrity of ODEs models could be biased for the relative <> analytical solutions
Stochastic models pnciano -> describe plasmid dynamics better than deterministic models, which are mechanistically driven, from strategies incorporating noise directly from observed data. This gives the expectation that this kind of models are better fitted to study plasmids when not much of their biology is known.
As experimental techniques becomes more sophisticated, such as the using of reporter genes and imaging techniques, more in situ specific data can be taken into account for the study of plasmid dynamics in a more realistic way. The general assumption of mass action of population and stochastic models only works for well mixed environments. Which is not the case on spatially structure nature systems. In this scenarios, ecological interactions between populations could be better understood using individual-based models. \citep{S_rensen_2005}
This modeling framework can integrate individual specific characteristics and as the the number of processes involved increases so does the programming and computational complexity. Nonetheless, this approach becomes very useful in studying communities ecological interactions in spatially structured manner. The advantage of this models is that they can efficiently capture population dynamics from individuals interactions, that at the same time this interactions are driven by properties that could or not vary between individuals of the same type. Thus facilitating the incorporation of biological noise such as different cell cycle states or metabolic variations.
The scientists perception of plasmids, at the beginning they were treated as parasites, symbionts or even external control tools. Now days when a population carries a plasmid, it is considered as part of a system. This change of perspectives in addition with advances in technology and experimental approaches has increased the sophistication of the molecular mechanisms involved in plasmid dynamics modelling. Examples of this how the grade of complexity on replication and segregation mechanisms has been addressed over time.
Another relevant factor to consider is the computational power, some modelers often decide to ignore a particular process with the <> that it does not change qualitatively their results. This practice definitely simplify models, which make them easier to resolve analytically or compute. We believe that, at least computational problems should not be factor to be considered anymore. But of course, simplifications and generalizations, would be addressed depending on the objectives of the research investigation.