The complete picture of biological adaptability at the level of intermolecular interactions is presented in landmark research by mathematicians Dr. Robyn Araujo of QUT and Professor Lance Liotta of George Mason University in the US, which was published in Nature Communications.
The research results, according to Dr. Araujo of the QUT School of Mathematical Sciences, serve as a model for the creation of synthetic biosystems and adaptation-capable signaling networks for use in all spheres of life.
“Until now, no one had a general way to explain how this vital process was orchestrated at the molecular level through the vast, complex, often highly intricate networks of chemical reactions among different types of molecules, mostly proteins.
“We have now solved this problem, having discovered fundamental molecular-level design principles that organize all forms of biological complexity into robustness-promoting, and ultimately, survival-promoting, chemical reaction structures.”
Dr Araujo said they had found that collections of interacting molecules in living systems cannot simply ‘transmit’ biochemical signals but must actually make ‘computations’ on these signals.
“These complex intermolecular interactions must implement a special type of regulation known as integral control – a design strategy known to engineers for almost a century.
“However, signaling networks in nature are vastly different, having evolved to rely on the physical interactions between discrete molecules. So, nature’s ‘solutions’ operate through remarkable and highly intricate collections of interactions, without engineering’s specially designed, integral-computing components, and often without feedback loops.
