Evolution and robustness are thought to be intimately connected. Are solutions to optimization problems produced by evolutionary algorithms more robust to mutation than those produced by other classes of search algori...
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Evolution and robustness are thought to be intimately connected. Are solutions to optimization problems produced by evolutionary algorithms more robust to mutation than those produced by other classes of search algorithms? We explore this question in a model system based on bivariate real functions. Bivariate real functions serve as a well understood model systems that are easy to visualize. Both the number and robustness of optimal solutions found in multiple trials with several typical optimization algorithms were compared. In the majority of the function landscapes explored the tournament selection evolutionary algorithm found optimal solutions which were significantly more robust to mutation than those discovered by the other algorithms.
Finite size effects on the cooperative thermal denaturation of proteins are considered. A dimensionless measure of cooperativity, Ωc, scales as Nζ, where N is the number of amino acids. Surprisingly, we find that ζ...
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Finite size effects on the cooperative thermal denaturation of proteins are considered. A dimensionless measure of cooperativity, Ωc, scales as Nζ, where N is the number of amino acids. Surprisingly, we find that ζ is universal with ζ=1+γ, where the exponent γ characterizes the divergence of the susceptibility for a self-avoiding walk. Our lattice model simulations and experimental data are consistent with the theory. Our finding rationalizes the marginal stability of proteins and substantiates the earlier predictions that the efficient folding of two-state proteins requires TF≈Tθ, where Tθ and TF are the collapse and folding transition temperatures, respectively.
Human groups show structured levels of genetic similarity as a consequence of factors such as geographical subdivision and genetic drift. Surveying this structure gives us a scientific perspective on human origins, sh...
Human groups show structured levels of genetic similarity as a consequence of factors such as geographical subdivision and genetic drift. Surveying this structure gives us a scientific perspective on human origins, sheds light on evolutionary processes that shape both human adaptation and disease, and is integral to effectively carrying out the mission of global medical genetics and personalized medicine. Surveys of population structure have been ongoing for decades, but in the past three years, single-nucleotide-polymorphism (SNP) array technology has provided unprecedented detail on human population structure at global and regional scales. These studies have confirmed well-known relationships between distantly related populations and uncovered previously unresolvable relationships among closely related human groups. SNPs represent the first dense genome-wide markers, and as such, their analysis has raised many challenges and insights relevant to the study of population genetics with whole-genome sequences. Here we draw on the lessons from these studies to anticipate the directions that will be most fruitful to pursue during the emerging whole-genome sequencing era.
The experimental and computational techniques for capturing information about protein structures and genetic variation within the human genome have advanced dramatically in the past 20 years, generating extensive new ...
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The experimental and computational techniques for capturing information about protein structures and genetic variation within the human genome have advanced dramatically in the past 20 years, generating extensive new data resources. In this review, we discuss these advances, along with new approaches for determining the impact a genetic variant has on protein function. We focus on the potential of new methods that integrate human genetic variation into protein structures to discover relationships to disease, including the discovery of mutational hotspots in cancer-related proteins, the localization of protein-altering variants within protein regions for common complex diseases, and the assessment of variants of unknown significance for Mendelian traits. We expect that approaches that integratethese data sources will play increasingly important roles in disease gene discovery and variant interpretation.
Biomedical data scientists study many types of networks, ranging from those formed by neurons to those created by molecular interactions. People often criticize these networks as uninterpretable diagrams termed hairba...
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Biomedical data scientists study many types of networks, ranging from those formed by neurons to those created by molecular interactions. People often criticize these networks as uninterpretable diagrams termed hairballs; however, here we show that molecular biological networks can be interpreted in several straightforward ways. First, we can break down a network into smaller components, focusing on individual pathways and modules. Second, we can compute global statistics describing the network as a whole. Third, we can compare networks. These comparisons can be within the same context (e.g., between two gene regulatory networks) or cross-disciplinary (e.g., between regulatory networks and governmental hierarchies). The latter comparisons can transfer a formalism, such as that for Markov chains, from one context to another or relate our intuitions in a familiar setting (e.g., social networks) to the relatively unfamiliar molecular context. Finally, key aspects of molecular networks are dynamics and evolution, i.e., how they evolve over time and how genetic variants affect them. By studying the relationships between variants in networks, we can begin to interpret many common diseases, such as cancer and heart disease.
This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 17th Annual International Conference on Research in computational Molecular biology, RECOMB 2013, held in Beijing, China, in April 2013. The 32 revised full papers...
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ISBN:
(数字)9783642371950
ISBN:
(纸本)9783642371943
This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 17th Annual International Conference on Research in computational Molecular biology, RECOMB 2013, held in Beijing, China, in April 2013. The 32 revised full papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 167 submissions. The papers cover a wide range of topics including molecular sequence analysis; genes and regulatory elements; molecular evolution; gene expression; biological networks; sequencing and genotyping technologies; genomics; epigenomics; metagenomics; population, statistical genetics; systems biology; computational proteomics; computational structural biology; imaging; large-scale data management.
Evolutionary rates play a central role in connecting micro- and macroevolution. All evolutionary rate estimates, including rates of molecular evolution, trait evolution, and lineage diversification, share a similar sc...
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Evolutionary rates play a central role in connecting micro- and macroevolution. All evolutionary rate estimates, including rates of molecular evolution, trait evolution, and lineage diversification, share a similar scaling pattern with time: The highest rates are those measured over the shortest time interval. This creates a disconnect between micro- and macroevolution, although the pattern is the opposite of what some might expect: Patterns of change over short timescales predict that evolution has tremendous potential to create variation and that potential is barely tapped by macroevolution. In this review, we discuss this shared scaling pattern across evolutionary rates. We break down possible explanations for scaling into two categories, estimation error and model misspecification, and discuss how both apply to each type of rate. We also discuss the consequences of this ubiquitous pattern, which can lead to unexpected results when comparing ratesover different timescales. Finally, after addressing purely statistical concerns, we explore a few possibilities for a shared unifying explanation across the three types of rates that results from a failure to fully understand and account for how biological processes scale over time.
This interdisciplinary thesis introduces a systems biology approach to study the cell fate decision mediated by autophagy. A mathematical model of interaction between Autophagy and Apoptosis in mammalian cells is prop...
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ISBN:
(数字)9783319149622
ISBN:
(纸本)9783319149615;9783319365121
This interdisciplinary thesis introduces a systems biology approach to study the cell fate decision mediated by autophagy. A mathematical model of interaction between Autophagy and Apoptosis in mammalian cells is proposed. In this dynamic model autophagy acts as a gradual response to stress (Rheostat) that delays the initiation of bistable switch of apoptosis to give the cells an opportunity to survive. The author shows that his dynamical model is consistent with existing quantitative measurements of time courses of autophagic responses to cisplatin treatment. To understand the function of this response in cancer cells, he has provided a systems biology experimental framework to study quantitative and dynamical aspects of autophagy in single cancer cells using live-cell imaging and quantitative fluorescence microscopy. This framework can provide new insights on function of autophagic response in cancer cells.
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