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Biological physics

Harmonies from noise

Nature volume 439, pages 27–28 (2006)Cite this article

Do random environments make for random responses to them? Mathematical models suggest that this is not always the case — adding noise could create synchronous oscillations in cell–cell signalling systems.

Noise in communication devices is a familiar nuisance. In most Hollywood war films, radio static seems to botch up any attempt at coordinated action, to the frustration of the troops in the trenches. Cells face much the same problem: their signalling is garbled by chemical noise — random fluctuations in the concentrations of different molecular constituents — both inside and outside the cell. This noise could in turn compromise the cell's ability to grow and reproduce — or so one might think.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, 02108, Massachusetts, USA

    Michael Springer

  2. Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB3 0WA, UK

    Johan Paulsson

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  1. Michael Springer
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  2. Johan Paulsson
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Springer, M., Paulsson, J. Harmonies from noise. Nature 439, 27–28 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/439027a

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