Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Wiley Interdiscip Rev Syst Biol Med. 2011 May-Jun;3(3):314-22. doi: 10.1002/wsbm.142. Epub 2011 Feb 18.
A vexing question in the biological sciences is the following: can biological phenotypes be explained with mathematical models of molecules that interact according to physical laws? At the crux of the matter lies the doubt that humans can develop physically faithful mathematical representations of living organisms. We discuss advantages that synthetic biological systems confer that may help us describe life's distinctiveness with tractable mathematics that are grounded on universal laws of thermodynamics and molecular biology.
根据物理定律相互作用的分子的数学模型能否解释生物表型?问题的关键在于,人们是否能够对生物体进行物理上准确的数学表示。我们讨论了合成生物系统带来的优势,这些优势可能有助于我们使用基于热力学和分子生物学普遍规律的可处理数学来描述生命的独特性。