Keeping up with the 'omics: non-equilibrium models of gene regulation.

Non-equilibrium processes are vital features of biological systems. Despite this universally accepted fact, gene regulation is typically formalized into models that assume thermodynamic equilibrium. As experimental evidence expands the repertoire of non-equilibrium genome regulatory mechanisms, theoreticians are challenged to devise general approaches to accommodate and suggest functions for non-equilibrium processes. Ahsendorf et al. provide one such framework, which is discussed in the context of the growing complexity of eukaryotic gene regulation.