Access

News and Views

Nature 389, 441-443 (2 October 1997) | doi:10.1038/38895

Kinetic theory:  Optimal paths and irreversibility

Mark Millonas1

What do mutations in a genetic sequence, conformational changes in proteins, an electron escaping out of a deep energy well, and the nucleation of galaxies in the early Universe have in common? They are all events that involve large, rare fluctuations.

  1. Mark Millonas is in the Department of Pharmacological and Physiological Sciences, University of Chicago (MC6094), 5841 South Maryland Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.