Regensburg 2004 – scientific programme

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AKB: Biologische Physik

AKB 40: Evolution and Complex Systems

AKB 40.1: Invited Talk

Thursday, March 11, 2004, 14:30–15:00, H40

Structure and Evolution of bio-molecular Networks — •Michael Lässig — Institut für theoretische Physik, Universität zu Köln, 50937 Köln

The genomes of higher organisms are highly collective systems with multiple interactions between genes. These genetic networks are linked to other levels of molecular information processing such as protein interaction maps or metabolic networks. Their combinatorial complexity is an essential characteristic of higher organisms, allowing a large number of functional tasks to be performed by a limited number of genes. This talk describes our current understanding of the structure and evolution of molecular networks. How do we recognize modules related to specific functions in large networks? How does nature evolve complex interaction patterns and adapts them to fluctuating environments? These questions lead to the statistical physics of bio-molecular networks and their non-equilibrium dynamics.