Maths researchers find the rules that govern how cells work
Beneath the complexity of protein communications lurk surprisingly simple principles. Andrew Masterson reports.
For the first time, the ability of proteins within a cell to work together as a complex and strong network has been described mathematically, marking a significant advance in both maths and biology.
The new mathematics – the result of a five-year project undertaken by Robyn Arauju of Australia’s Queensland University of Technology, and Lance Liotta of George Mason University in the US – largely resolves the mystery of how the extremely complex network found within a cell results in a robust, rather than fragile, outcome.
“Proteins form unfathomably complex networks of chemical reactions that allow cells to communicate and to ‘think’ – essentially giving the cell a ‘cognitive’ ability, or a ‘brain’,†says Araujo.
https://cosmosmagazine.com/mathematics/maths-researchers-find-the-rules-that-govern-how-cells-work
