  We use the Litvinov-Maslov correspondence principle to reduce and hybridize
networks of biochemical reactions. We apply this method to a cell cycle
oscillator model. The reduced and hybridized model can be used as a hybrid
model for the cell cycle. We also propose a practical recipe for detecting
quasi-equilibrium QE reactions and quasi-steady state QSS species in
biochemical models with rational rate functions and use this recipe for model
reduction. Interestingly, the QE/QSS invariant manifold of the smooth model and
the reduced dynamics along this manifold can be put into correspondence to the
tropical variety of the hybridization and to sliding modes along this variety,
respectively
