c © 2005 Birkhäuser Verlag Basel/Switzerland Finite Element Methods for Investigating the Moving Boundary Problem in Biological Development

Abstract. We describe two finite element algorithms which can be used to study organogenesis or organ development during biological development. Such growth can often be reduced to a free boundary problem with simi-larities to two-fluid flow in the presence of surface tension, though material is added at a constant growth rate to the developing organ. We use the specific case of avian limb development to discuss our algorithms. 1