Related papers: The selfish ribosome
In cellular reprogramming, almost all epigenetic memories of differentiated cells are erased by the overexpression of few genes, regaining pluripotency, potentiality for differentiation. Considering the interplay between oscillatory gene…
The bottom-up construction of synthetic cells is one of the most intriguing and interesting research arenas in synthetic biology. Synthetic cells are built by encapsulating biomolecules inside lipid vesicles (liposomes), allowing the…
The simplest possible beginning of abiogenesis has been a riddle from the last century, which is most successfully solved by the Lipid World hypothesis. However, origin of the next stages of evolution starting form lipids is still in dark.…
It is suggested that life originated in a three-step process referred to as the jigsaw model. RNA, proteins, or similar organic molecules polymerized in a dehydrated carbon-rich environment, on surfaces in a carbon-rich environment, or in…
Microbiological systems evolve to fulfill their tasks with maximal efficiency. The immune system is a remarkable example, where self-non self distinction is accomplished by means of molecular interaction between self proteins and antigens,…
Long ago, life obtained nucleotides in the course of evolution and became a vehicle for them. Before assembly with nucleotides, in the pre-RNA era, what system dominated heredity? What was the subject of survival competition? Is it still a…
The synthesis of ATP, life's 'universal energy currency', is the most prevalent chemical reaction in biological systems, and is responsible for fueling nearly all cellular processes, from nerve impulse propagation to DNA synthesis. ATP…
Proteins in organisms, rather than act alone, usually form protein complexes to perform cellular functions. We analyze the topological network structure of protein complexes and their component proteins in the budding yeast in terms of the…
Excitability is an attribute of life, and is a driving force in the descent of complexity. Cellular electrical activity as realized by membrane proteins that act as either channels or transporters is the basis of excitability. Electrical…
Self-assembly at submicroscopic scales is an important but little understood phenomenon. A prominent example is virus capsid growth, whose underlying behavior can be modeled using simple particles that assemble into polyhedral shells.…
The immune system can be thought as a complex network of different interacting elements. A cellular automaton, defined in shape-space, was recently shown to exhibit self-regulation and complex behavior and is, therefore, a good candidate to…
Systems biology studies the structure and behavior of complex gene regulatory networks. One of its aims is to develop a quantitative understanding of the modular components that constitute such networks. The self-regulating gene is a type…
In biological cells, DNA replication is carried out by the replisome, a protein complex encompassing multiple DNA polymerases. DNA replication is semi-discontinuous: a DNA polymerase synthesizes one (leading) strand of the DNA continuously,…
Range expansion is a universal process in biological systems, and therefore plays a part in biological evolution. Using a quantitative individual-based method based on the stochastic process, we identify that enhancing the inherent…
Studies by microbiologists from the 1970s provided robust estimates for the energy supply and demand of a prokaryotic cell. The amount of ATP needed to support growth was calculated from the chemical composition of the cell and known…
Cells are able to generate phenotypic diversity both during development and in response to stressful and changing environments, aiding survival. The biologically and medically vital process of a cell assuming a functionally important fate…
Cell reproduction involves replication of diverse molecule species, in contrast to simple replication system with fewer components. Here, we address why such diversity is sustained despite the efficiency of simple replication systems, using…
Translation of mRNA into protein is a fundamental yet complex biological process with multiple factors that can potentially affect its efficiency. Here, we study a stochastic model describing the traffic flow of ribosomes along the mRNA…
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…
Evolution depends on the fitness of organisms, the expected rate of reproducing. Directly getting offspring is the most basic form of fitness, but fitness can also be increased indirectly by helping genetically related individuals (such as…