biological networks

Biological networks have evolved to be highly functional within uncertain environments while remaining extremely adaptable.

One of the main contributors to the robustness and evolvability of biological networks is believed to be their modularity of function (functional modularity), with modules defined as sets of genes that are strongly interconnected but whose function is separable from those of other modules.

These networks evolve in environments that differ in their predictability, and allow us to study modularity from topological, information-theoretic, and gene-epistatic points of view using new tools that do not depend on any preconceived notion of modularity.

See also

 network biology
 systems biology
 yeast protein-protein interaction network
 redundant genes
 network modularity tools
 genetic interactions data
 biological networks.
 in silico evolution of modularity
 robustness
 complex artificial metabolic networks
 biological
 social
 engineering networks
 scale-free edge distribution
 small-world property
 fault-tolerance

References

 Related Articles, LinksHintze A, Adami C. Evolution of complex modular biological networks. PLoS Comput Biol. 2008 Feb;4(2):e23. PMID: 18266463

 Lynch M. The evolution of genetic networks by non-adaptive processes. Nat Rev Genet. 2007 Oct;8(10):803-13. PMID: 17878896

 Beyer A, Bandyopadhyay S, Ideker T. Integrating physical and genetic maps: from genomes to interaction networks. Nat Rev Genet. 2007 Sep;8(9):699-710. PMID: 17703239

 Basso K, Margolin AA, Stolovitzky G, Klein U, Dalla-Favera R, Califano A. Reverse engineering of regulatory networks in human B cells. Nat Genet. 2005 Apr;37(4):382-90. PMID: 15778709

 Eungdamrong NJ, Iyengar R. Computational approaches for modeling regulatory cellular networks. Trends Cell Biol. 2004 Dec;14(12):661-9. PMID: 15564042

 Barabási AL, Oltvai ZN. Network biology: understanding the cell’s functional organization. Nat Rev Genet. 2004 Feb;5(2):101-13. PMID: 14735121

 Benson M, Breitling R. Network theory to understand microarray studies of complex diseases. Curr Mol Med. 2006 Sep;6(6):695-701. PMID: 17022739

 Eungdamrong NJ, Iyengar R. Computational approaches for modeling regulatory cellular networks. Trends Cell Biol. 2004 Dec;14(12):661-9. PMID: 15564042

 Barabasi AL, Oltvai ZN. Network biology: understanding the cell’s functional organization. Nat Rev Genet. 2004 Feb;5(2):101-13. PMID: 14735121