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Biology

PDF: From molecular to modular cell biology

Download 23 times Source: sysbio.harvard.edu // Topic: Biology File Size: 293.16 kb // Total of Page: 6 Page(s) Last download by masarhan Last download on: 1 month ago Share this info: Sample of page (click to enlarge) Short Desciption: Is cell biology modular? A functional module is, by definition, a dis-. crete entity whose function is separable from. those of other modules. ... Content Inside: impacts From molecular to modular cell biology Leland H. Hartwell, John J. Hopfield, Stanislas Leibler and Andrew W. Murray Cellular functions, such as signal transmission, are carried out by `modules made up of many species of interacting molecules. Understanding how modules work has depended on combining phenomenological analysis with molecular studies. General principles that govern the structure and behaviour of modules may be discovered with help from synthetic sciences such as engineering and computer science, from stronger interactions between experiment and theory in cell biology, and from an appreciation of evolutionary constraints. A lthough living systems obey the laws of physics and chemistry, the notion of function or purpose differentiates biology from other natural sciences. Organisms exist to reproduce, whereas, outside religious belief, rocks and stars have no purpose. Selection for function has produced the living cell, with a unique set of properties that distinguish it from inanimate systems of interacting molecules. Cells exist far from