Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Sealable Femtoliter Chamber Arrays for Cell-free Biology
Published on: March 11, 2015
Perturbation avalanches and criticality in gene regulatory networks
P Rämö1, J Kesseli, O Yli-Harja
1Institute of Signal processing, Tampere University of Technology P.O. Box 553, 33101 Tampere, Finland. pauli.ramo@tut.fi
Abstract:
Boolean networks are simplified models of gene regulatory networks. We derive an approximation of the size distribution of perturbation avalanches in Boolean networks based on known results in the theory of branching processes. We show numerically that the approximation works well for different kinds of Boolean networks. It has been suggested that gene regulatory networks may be dynamically critical. To study this, as an application of the presented theory we present a novel method for estimating an order parameter from microarray data. According to the available data and our method, we find that gene regulatory networks appear to be stable and reside near the phase transition between order and chaos.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Interactions Between Signaling Pathways
Convergence and divergence, and cross-talk between signaling pathways
Two distinct signaling pathways can converge on a single functional unit, which may either be a single protein or a complex of proteins. The response is either functionally distinct or synergistic between the two pathways but different from the response...
Cis-regulatory Sequences
Regulation of Expression at Multiple Steps
Covalently Linked Protein Regulators
These groups modify specific amino acids in a protein.
Regulation of Expression Occurs at Multiple Steps
Transcription results in the generation of precursor (pre-mRNA) that consists of both exons and introns, which needs further processing before being translated to a...
Regulation of Expression Occurs at Multiple Steps
Transcription results in the generation of precursor (pre-mRNA) that consists of both exons and introns, which needs further processing before being translated to a...

