Quantitative Measure of Stability in Gene Regulatory Networks

A quantitative measure of stability in stochastic dynamics starts to emerge in recent experiments on bioswitches. This quantity, similar to the potential function in mathematics, is deeply rooted in biology, dated back at the beginning of quantitative description of biological processes: the adaptive landscape of Wright (1932) and the development landscape of Waddington (1940). Nevertheless, its quantitative implication has been frequently challenged by biologists. Recent progresses in quantitative biology begin to meet those outstanding challenges.