An algorithm for automated layout of process description maps drawn in SBGN

Motivation: Evolving technology has increased the focus on genomics. The combination of today's advanced techniques with decades of molecular biology research has yielded huge amounts of pathway data. A standard, named the Systems Biology Graphical Notation (SBGN), was recently introduced to allow scientists to represent biological pathways in an unambiguous, easy-to-understand and efficient manner. Although there are a number of automated layout algorithms for various types of biological networks, currently none specialize on process description (PD) maps as defined by SBGN.