Interaction between genes and gene products forms the basis of essential processes like signal transduction, cell metabolism or embryonic development.
Recent experimental advances helped uncover the structure of many gene control networks, creating a surge of interest in the dynamical description of gene regulation. Traditionally genetic interactions are modeled by differential equations based on reaction kinetics, but these studies are greatly hampered by the sparsity of known kinetic detail. As an alternative, qualitative models assuming a small set of discrete states for gene products, or employing combinations of discrete and continuous dynamics, are gaining acceptance. Many results also suggest that the interaction topology plays a determining role in the dynamics of regulatory networks and there is significant robustness to changes in kinetic parameters.
This presentation will explore three models of the gene regulatory network governing the segmentation of fruit fly embryos. Each model is able to give predictions and insights into this biological process, and taken together, they illuminate the emergent (network-level) functional robustness of cellular regulatory networks.
Audio (MP3 File, Podcast Ready)
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