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SUMMARY:Dynamics: Challenge and tool for understanding living systems
DTSTART:20170201T103000
DTEND:20170201T113000
DTSTAMP:20260505T015124Z
UID:0f6171e352fe421f7e794666da368a75faf4e9c0a11b24b1afa03ee2
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Jamal Rahi\, The Rockefeller University\nAbstract:\nA cen
 tral challenge in biology is to predict system behavior in time\, given in
 complete knowledge\, strong interactions\, and noise. We have pursued mult
 iple approaches to building predictive dynamical descriptions of biologica
 l systems\, making progress toward general principles. We have focused on 
 three specific problems: 1) The number of global oscillators controlling t
 he 'cell cycle'\, the process by which cells replicate\, had been unresolv
 ed. This left a number of fundamental questions unanswered: How do differe
 nt processes sync up during the cell cycle? How can the cell cycle be arre
 sted? We found that one central oscillator controls two major cell cycle p
 rocesses\, periodic phosphorylation/degradation and transcription\, contra
 dicting previous views. However\, we also found exceptions to this rule\; 
 pursuing one such gene\, we discovered a new\, counter-intuitive genetic i
 nteraction between an inhibitor and a target\, which violates the usual ru
 les of genetics. 2) Can dynamic perturbations be used to identify molecula
 r circuit topologies? We discovered dynamic 'response signatures' for spec
 ific circuit topologies and used them to solve previously hard-to-resolve 
 questions: We identified the circuit responsible for timing robustness in 
 yeast cell cycle control as well as a circuit leading to adaptation in the
  C. elegans olfactory sensory neuron AWA. 3) Do cell cycle checkpoints 'fa
 il' in predictable patterns? A mathematically optimal checkpoint strategy\
 , which we derived\, predicts how cell cycle checkpoints fail as a functio
 n of the number of errors. Our preliminary experimental results agree with
  our predictions but challenge current views in the field\; checkpoint fai
 lure may be a significantly more common phenomenon than previously thought
 .
LOCATION:PH H3 31 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==PH%20H3%2031
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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