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Information processing in cell biology
Emory University
We will discuss what it takes to perform one of the most common, universal functions performed by organisms at all levels of organization: signal or information processing and shaping of a response (variously known as signal transduction, regulation, sensing, adaptation, etc.) Studying these types of physical phenomena poses a series of well-defined questions: How can organisms deal with noise, whether extrinsic, or generated by intrinsic fluctuations within molecular components of information processing devices? How can organisms ensure that the information is processed fast enough for the formed response to stay relevant in the ever-changing world? How should the information processing strategies change when the properties of the environment surrounding the organism change? We will formalize these questions using the language of information theory and linear response theories and will show similarities in functional organization of information processing between seemingly different biological systems.
