Related papers: The selfish ribosome
All cells must keep time to consistently perform vital biological functions. To that end, the coupling and interrelatedness of diverse subsecond events in the complex cellular environment, such as protein folding or translation rates,…
To double the cellular population of ribosomes, a fraction of the active ribosomes is allocated to synthesize ribosomal proteins. Subsequently, these ribosomal proteins enter the ribosome self-assembly process, synthesizing new ribosomes…
The biological immune system is a robust, complex, adaptive system that defends the body from foreign pathogens. It is able to categorize all cells (or molecules) within the body as self-cells or non-self cells. It does this with the help…
Explaining the origin of life requires us to explain how self-replication arises. To be specific, how can a self-replicating entity develop spontaneously from a chemical reaction system in which no reaction is self-replicating? Previously…
Proteins are polymers of amino acids. These macromolecules are synthesized by intracellular machines called ribosomes. Although the experimental investigation of protein synthesis has been a traditional area of research in molecular cell…
Replication time is among the most important components of a bacterial cell's reproductive fitness. Paradoxically, larger cells replicate in less time than smaller cells despite the fact that building a larger cell requires increased…
Understanding the thermodynamic function of life may shed light on its origin. Life, as are all irreversible processes, is contingent on entropy production. Entropy production is a measure of the rate of the tendency of Nature to explore…
During mRNA translation, several ribosomes attach to the same mRNA molecule simultaneously translating it into a protein. This pipelining increases the protein production rate. A natural and important question is what ribosomal density…
In this paper we will review various aspects of the biology of prions and focus on what is currently known about the mammalian PrP prion. Also we briefly describe the prions of yeast and other fungi. Prions are infectious proteins behaving…
Genetic information and environmental factors determine the path of an individuals life and therefore, the evolution of its entire species. We have succeeded in proposing and studying a model that captures this idea. In our model, a…
The adaptive immune system provides a diverse set of molecules that can mount specific responses against a multitude of pathogens. Memory is a key feature of adaptive immunity, which allows organisms to respond more readily upon…
Time has come for a survey of our knowledge on the physical interaction between the growth-promoting insulin molecule and retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein (RB). Theoretical and experimental observations over the past 15 years…
Translation is an important stage in gene expression. During this stage, macro-molecules called ribosomes travel along the mRNA strand linking amino-acids together in a specific order to create a functioning protein. An important question…
This paper argues that self-awareness is a learned behavior that emerges in organisms whose brains have a sufficiently integrated, complex ability for associative learning and memory. Continual sensory input of information related to the…
To unveil the logic of cell from a level of chemical reaction dynamics, we need to clarify how ensemble of chemicals can autonomously produce the set of chemical, without assuming a specific external control echanism. A cell consists of a…
A central goal of synthetic biology is to design sophisticated synthetic cellular circuits that can perform complex computations and information processing tasks in response to specific inputs. The tremendous advances in our ability to…
Molecular chirality is inherent to biology and cellular chemistry. In this report, the origin of enantiomeric selectivity is analyzed from the viewpoint of the "RNA World" model, based on the autocatalytic self-replication of glyceraldehyde…
Many {\it ribosomes} simultaneously move on the same messenger RNA (mRNA), each synthesizing separately a copy of the same protein. In contrast to the earlier models, here {\it we develop a ``unified'' theoretical model} that not only…
Organisms are nonequilibrium, stationary systems self-organized via spontaneous symmetry breaking and undergoing metabolic cycles with broken detailed balance in the environment. The thermodynamic free-energy principle describes an…
Recently, microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as central posttranscriptional regulators of gene expression. miRNAs regulate many key biological processes, including cell growth, death, development and differentiation. This discovery is…