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The processes of gene expression are inherently stochastic, even for essential genes required for growth. How does the cell maximize fitness in light of noise? To answer this question, we build a mathematical model to explore the trade-off…
Allometric scaling is one of the most pervasive laws in biology. Its origin, however, is still a matter of dispute. Recent studies have established that maximum metabolic rate scales with an exponent larger than that found for basal…
Physical fundamentals of the self-organizing theory for the system with varying constraints are considered. A variation principle, specifically the principle of dynamic harmonization as a generalization of the Gauss-Hertz principle for the…
Metabolic scaling is one of the most important patterns in biology. Theory explaining the 3/4-power size-scaling of biological metabolic rate does not predict the non-linear scaling observed for smaller life forms. Here we present a new…
Cell growth and gene expression, essential elements of all living systems, have long been the focus of biophysical interrogation. Advances in single-cell methods have invigorated theoretical studies into these processes. However, until…
The classical gravitational two-body problem is generalized in order to be applicable also to weak gravitational fields. The equation of motion holds both for terrestrial and large cosmic scales, the Newtonian gravitational law represents a…
Phase separation is not only ubiquitous in diverse physical systems, but also plays an important organizational role inside biological cells. However, experimental studies of intracellular condensates (drops with condensed concentrations of…
We investigate the dynamics of a colony of crawling, proliferating cells with a minimal, mechanical cell model. The cells consist of two disks, modelling the cell body and a pseudopod, connected by a finite extensible spring. The cells…
The ripening kinetics of bubbles is studied by performing molecular dynamics simulations. From the time evolution of a system, the growth rates of individual bubbles are determined. At low temperatures, the system exhibits a $t^{1/2}$ law…
Is there an overriding principle of nature, hitherto overlooked, that governs all population behavior? A single principle that drives all the regimes observed in nature - exponential-like growth, saturated growth, population decline,…
We address a novel approach for stochastic individual-based modelling of a single species population. Individuals are distinguished by their remaining lifetimes, which are regulated by the interplay between the inexorable running of time…
A classic problem in microbiology is that bacteria display two types of growth behavior when cultured on a mixture of two carbon sources: the two sources are sequentially consumed one after another (diauxie) or they are simultaneously…
We quantify the amount of regulation required to control growth in living cells by a Maximum Entropy approach to the space of underlying metabolic states described by genome-scale models. Results obtained for E. coli and human cells are…
We consider a general growth mechanism, which acts at cellular level and above (organs, systems and whole organisms). Using its mathematical representation, the growth equation, we study the growth and division mechanisms of amoeba and…
Metabolic networks consist of linked functional components, or modules. The mechanism underlying metabolic network modularity is of great interest not only to researchers of basic science but also to those in fields of engineering. Previous…
Function diversity, the range of tasks individuals perform, and specialization, the distribution of function abundances, are fundamental to complex adaptive systems. In the absence of overarching principles, these properties have appeared…
Cell differentiation in multicellular organisms is a complex process whose mechanism can be understood by a reductionist approach, in which the individual processes that control the generation of different cell types are identified.…
Recently, West et al. claimed to derive a general quantitative model based on fundamental principles for the allocation of metabolic energy between maintenance of existing tissue and the production of new biomass, and in addition claimed to…
The logistic equation is ubiquitous in applied mathematics as a minimal model of saturating growth. Here, we examine a broad generalisation of the logistic growth model to discretely structured populations, motivated by examples that range…
Mechanical stresses stemming from environmental factors are a key determinant of cellular behavior and physiology. Yet, the role of self-induced biomechanical stresses in growing bacterial colonies has remained largely unexplored. Here, we…