Thermodynamic constraints in biology
The function of biological systems can not escape the constraints of its “hardware architecture”. For example, the functions that a cellular network can achieve are constrained by its topology, the biochemical properties of its components, and the laws of thermodynamics. Although we are interested in different types of constraints, thermodynamic constraints have been a recurrent topic in our group.
Thermodynamics of development
In order to develop, multicellular organisms extract nutrients from their environment and use them to synthesize cellular components. This assembly process is highly irreversible, and as a consequence part of the energy in the nutrients is wasted as heat. Using isothermal callorimetry this heat can be measured. What biochemical processes are the main contributors to heat dissipation in developing embryos? Is heat generation an important constraint to the developing embryo?
Related Publications
Copying cellular information
Subcellular systems carry out a variety of information processing tasks, e.g. copying information from sources such as DNA or RNA. Due to the small scale at wich these processes occur, they are subject to thermal fluction and, therefore, they are error-prone. To ensure fidelity, a number of energy-consuming mechanisms have evolved. How do the laws of thermodynamics constrain the information processing capabilities of cellular systems? What is the relationship between the speed of information processing, its accuracy, and the energetic cost associated to it?
Related Publications
Thermodynamics of error correction.
P. Sartori and S. Pigolotti
Phys. Rev. X, 2015, 5, 041039
