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Sloppiness, robustness, and evolvability in systems biology
Bryan C Daniels1, Yan-Jiun Chen, James P Sethna
1Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
Current Opinion in Biotechnology
|July 16, 2008
Summary
Biochemical networks exhibit remarkable stability, often due to inherent
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Systems Biology
- Evolutionary Biology
Background:
- Biochemical networks frequently display robustness, maintaining stable function despite environmental or internal parameter changes.
- Research on robustness and evolvability has largely centered on neutral spaces, where system behavior is mutation-invariant.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the phenomenon of 'sloppiness' in multiparameter biochemical models.
- To propose sloppiness as a nonadaptive explanation for network robustness.
- To extend concepts from robust systems to characterize sloppy systems.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of collective behavior in multiparameter models of biochemical networks.
- Characterization of parameter spaces, identifying 'stiff' and 'sloppy' subspaces.
Main Results:
- Multiparameter models predominantly exhibit 'sloppy' behavior, being insensitive to most parameter changes.
- These models possess vast 'sloppy neutral subspaces' where behavior remains invariant.
- Sloppiness offers a natural, nonadaptive explanation for observed robustness in biochemical networks.
Conclusions:
- The inherent sloppiness of biochemical networks provides an alternative to evolutionary adaptation for robustness.
- Existing frameworks for studying evolvability in robust systems can be adapted to analyze sloppy systems.
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