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Biological Systems: Reliable Functions out of Randomness

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Abstract

What makes biological systems different from man-made systems? One distinction is explored in this paper: Biological systems achieve reliable functions through randomness, i.e., by both mitigating and exploiting the effects of randomness. The fundamental reason for biological systems to take such a random approach is the randomness of the microscopic world, which is dramatically different from the macroscopic world we are familiar with. To substantiate the idea, bacterial chemotaxis is used as an example.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

    Liang-Liang Xie

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  1. Liang-Liang Xie
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Correspondence to Liang-Liang Xie.

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Xie, LL. Biological Systems: Reliable Functions out of Randomness. J Syst Sci Complex 34, 2036–2047 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11424-021-1271-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11424-021-1271-1

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