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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 13, 2026

Measuring Biomolecular DSC Profiles with Thermolabile Ligands to Rapidly Characterize Folding and Binding Interactions

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Published on: November 21, 2017

Thermodynamic limits in far-from-equilibrium molecular templating networks.

Benjamin Qureshi^1,2, Jenny M Poulton³, Thomas E Ouldridge^1,2

¹Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.

Newton ((New York, N.Y.)

|January 8, 2026

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Cells use templating networks to create RNA and proteins. Maximum accuracy is achieved at pseudo-equilibrium, not high flux, revealing a thermodynamic constraint on information transfer.

Keywords:

molecular networks molecular templating non-equilibrium biophysics stochastic thermodynamics thermodynamics of information

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Area of Science:

Biochemistry
Thermodynamics
Systems Biology

Background:

Cells maintain precise RNA and protein levels using complex reaction networks.
Templates catalyze the assembly of specific molecular products.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the thermodynamic limits on information transmission in cellular templating networks.
To understand how accuracy is achieved in these far-from-equilibrium systems.

Main Methods:

Analysis of free-energy changes in assembly pathways.
Modeling of information transmission bounds.
Comparison of pseudo-equilibrium and high-flux regimes.

Main Results:

Information transmission is bounded by free-energy differences between assembly pathways.
Maximum accuracy is achieved at pseudo-equilibrium, characterized by time-reversed trajectories and minimal entropy production.
High net flux is not required for maximal accuracy.

Conclusions:

Cellular accuracy is thermodynamically constrained by free-energy landscapes, not solely by kinetic selectivity.
Pseudo-equilibrium offers a novel mechanism for achieving high fidelity in molecular assembly.