Statistical Mechanics and evolutionary dynamics for functional biomolecular networks

Statistical Mechanics and evolutionary dynamics for functional biomolecular networks
Prof. Ranjan Mukhopadhyay, Dept of Physics, Clark University
Date and time: Thu, Oct 06, 2016 - 11:30am
Refreshments at 11:15am
Location: LGRT1033
Category: Condensed Matter Seminar
Abstract:
A central goal in systems biology/biophysics is to develop a theoretical framework to understand the relation between biological evolution and design/architectural principles of biomolecular networks. The challenge in formulating any quantitative understanding of this relationship is the complexity of the mapping between genotype and phenotype, since change is driven by random processes operating at the genotypic level while selection occurs at the phenotypic level. I will discuss a simplified but physically based model in the context of protein-protein interaction networks that allows us to generate such a mapping. I will use this model to address a broad set of issues including the evolutionary design principles of bio-networks, the relationship between evolvability and robustness, the interplay of fitness and random drift in determining evolutionary outcome, and the evolution of complexity.