Complexity Digest 2007.39 - 03.01

12-Oct-2007

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Multifunctionality and Robustness Tradeoffs in Model Genetic Circuits, SFI Working Papers Bookmark and Share

Excerpt: Most cellular systems, from macromolecules to genetic networks, have more than one function. Examples involving networks include the transcriptional regulation circuits formed by Hox genes and the Drosophila segmentation genes, which function in both early and later developmental events. Does the need to carry out more than one function severely constrain network architecture? Does it imply robustness tradeoffs between functions? That is, if one function is highly robust to mutations, are other functions highly sensitive, and vice versa? Little available evidence speaks to these questions. We address them with a general model of transcriptional regulation networks. (...)