The BioAmbients calculus is a process algebra suitable for representing
compartmentalization, molecular localization and movements between
compartments. In this paper we enrich this calculus with a static type system
classifying each ambient with group types specifying the kind of compartments
in which the ambient can stay. The type system ensures that, in a well-typed
process, ambients cannot be nested in a way that violates the type hierarchy.
Exploiting the information given by the group types, we also extend the
operational semantics of BioAmbients with rules signalling errors that may
derive from undesired ambients' moves (i.e. merging incompatible tissues).
Thus, the signal of errors can help the modeller to detect and locate unwanted
situations that may arise in a biological system, and give practical hints on
how to avoid the undesired behaviour