Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Tissues01:18

Tissues

87.3K
Cells with similar structure and function are grouped into tissues. A group of tissues with a specialized function is called an organ. There are four main types of tissue in vertebrates: epithelial, connective, muscle, and nervous.
87.3K
Autocrine Signaling01:01

Autocrine Signaling

53.1K
Autocrine signaling is one of the many signaling mechanisms that function inside multicellular organisms to carry out intercellular communication. In this type of signaling mechanism, the same cell that secretes an extracellular signaling molecule also expresses the receptors to bind and respond to that signaling molecule.
Autocrine Signaling in Macrophages
Under normal physiological conditions, autocrine signaling is essential for maintaining homeostasis. This process is well characterized in...
53.1K
What is Cell Signaling?02:03

What is Cell Signaling?

134.2K
Despite the protective membrane that separates a cell from the environment, cells need the ability to detect and respond to environmental changes. Additionally, cells often need to communicate with one another. Unicellular and multicellular organisms use a variety of cell signaling mechanisms to communicate to respond to the environment.
134.2K
Animal and Plant Cell Structure01:30

Animal and Plant Cell Structure

53.0K
Animal and plant cells not only differ in their structure, function, and mode of nutrition but also in how they reproduce, specialize, and organize into complex structures.
Cell Division
Though both plant and animal cells divide by mitosis (for non-gametic cells) and meiosis (for gametic cells), they differ in the specifics of this process. Unlike animal cells, plant cells lack centrosomes — an organelle responsible for organizing the spindle fibers and segregating the chromosomes during...
53.0K
Overview of Cell Signaling01:23

Overview of Cell Signaling

26.6K
Despite the protective membrane that separates a cell from the environment, cells need the ability to detect and respond to environmental changes. Additionally, cells often need to communicate with one another. Unicellular and multicellular organisms use a variety of cell signaling mechanisms to communicate with the environment.
Cells respond to many types of information, often through receptor proteins positioned on the membrane. For example, skin cells respond to and transmit touch...
26.6K
Cell Diversity01:13

Cell Diversity

5.9K
The concept of a cell started with microscopic observations of dead cork tissue by Robert Hooke in 1665. Hooke coined the term "cell" based on the resemblance of the small subdivisions in the cork to the rooms that monks inhabited, called cells. About ten years later, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek became the first person to observe the living and moving cells under a microscope. In the century that followed, the theory that cells represented the basic unit of life developed.
Multicellular...
5.9K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

The crop wild relative Fragaria vesca as source of resistance against strawberry anthracnose.

Plant biology (Stuttgart, Germany)·2025
Same author

Fatigue risk assessment of a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service crew working a 24/7 shift pattern: results of a prospective service evaluation.

Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine·2023
Same author

Prevalence and Disparities in Folate and Vitamin B12 Deficiency Among Preschool Children in Guatemala.

Maternal and child health journal·2021
Same author

S2k guidelines (consensus statement) for diagnosis and therapy of dermatitis herpetiformis initiated by the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV).

Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology : JEADV·2021
Same author

O<sub>3</sub> uptake and drought stress effects on carbon acquisition of ponderosa pine in natural stands.

The New phytologist·2021
Same author

How Should the Teeth Be Cleansed.

The Dental register·2021
Same journal

Engineered lymphatic stroma model applications in central nervous system leukemia.

Integrative biology : quantitative biosciences from nano to macro·2026
Same journal

Pharmaco-Epigenomic response of Pimozide is mediated through miR-2909.

Integrative biology : quantitative biosciences from nano to macro·2026
Same journal

Integrated bioinformatics analysis reveals cytokine dysregulation, pathway alterations, and machine learning identification of diagnostic biomarkers in sepsis.

Integrative biology : quantitative biosciences from nano to macro·2026
Same journal

Adaptation to solvent environment in toll-like receptor 5: kernel-based evolutionary analysis of membrane-bound and soluble forms in Epinephelus coioides.

Integrative biology : quantitative biosciences from nano to macro·2026
Same journal

Trim45 promotes the occurrence and development of cervical cancer by inhibiting the cGAS/STING signaling pathway.

Integrative biology : quantitative biosciences from nano to macro·2026
Same journal

Predicting gut metabolites from gut microbiome and their interpretability analysis of IBD prediction based on LIME.

Integrative biology : quantitative biosciences from nano to macro·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 3, 2026

BioMEMS and Cellular Biology: Perspectives and Applications
16:30

BioMEMS and Cellular Biology: Perspectives and Applications

Published on: October 1, 2007

10.3K

Communication theory and multicellular biology.

I S Mian1, C Rose

  • 1Life Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. smian@lbl.gov

Integrative Biology : Quantitative Biosciences From Nano to Macro
|March 23, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Communication theory offers a quantitative framework for understanding multicellular biology, from microbial colonies to complex organisms. This mathematical approach can explain collective behavior, development, and evolution by analyzing signal transmission and information processing.

More Related Videos

Finite Element Modelling of a Cellular Electric Microenvironment
08:23

Finite Element Modelling of a Cellular Electric Microenvironment

Published on: May 18, 2021

4.1K
Mechanostimulation of Multicellular Organisms Through a High-Throughput Microfluidic Compression System
09:56

Mechanostimulation of Multicellular Organisms Through a High-Throughput Microfluidic Compression System

Published on: December 23, 2022

2.2K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Apr 3, 2026

BioMEMS and Cellular Biology: Perspectives and Applications
16:30

BioMEMS and Cellular Biology: Perspectives and Applications

Published on: October 1, 2007

10.3K
Finite Element Modelling of a Cellular Electric Microenvironment
08:23

Finite Element Modelling of a Cellular Electric Microenvironment

Published on: May 18, 2021

4.1K
Mechanostimulation of Multicellular Organisms Through a High-Throughput Microfluidic Compression System
09:56

Mechanostimulation of Multicellular Organisms Through a High-Throughput Microfluidic Compression System

Published on: December 23, 2022

2.2K

Area of Science:

  • Multicellular Biology
  • Communication Theory
  • Systems Biology

Background:

  • Multicellular organisms and ecosystems exhibit complex organization and collective behavior.
  • Understanding the emergence, development, and evolution of multicellularity remains a key challenge.
  • Existing explanations often focus on genetic blueprints, but physical properties and information processing are also crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose communication theory as a novel quantitative lens for investigating multicellular biology.
  • To explore how principles from communication theory can explain the organization and behavior of multicellular systems.
  • To bridge the gap between mathematical models of information transfer and biological complexity.

Main Methods:

  • Applying Lasswell's communication model ('Who says what to whom in what channel with what effect') as a foundational framework.
  • Analyzing the physics of communication within biological systems, emphasizing energy efficiency.
  • Abstracting communication theory as an organizing principle for multicellular biology, independent of specific molecular mechanisms.

Main Results:

  • Communication theory provides a powerful, quantitative approach to understanding multicellular organization and behavior.
  • This framework can illuminate the emergence and evolution of multicellularity and the assembly of biological structures.
  • The approach highlights the role of signal transmission and information processing in biological systems.

Conclusions:

  • Communication theory offers a unifying perspective for diverse problems in multicellular biology.
  • Investigating multicellular biology can lead to advancements in communication theory, particularly in network information theory.
  • This interdisciplinary approach promises new insights into both biological complexity and information science.