Signal processing in single cells

Science overview article pointing to two current papers on signal transmission through gene cascades in noisy cellular environments. the article concludes that this work "represents an important advance toward a more quantitative synthetic biology. These studies offer insights into gene regulation, and, together, provide a framework for the further characterization of input/output relationships among regulators and their targets. These quantitative approaches can be applied to natural gene networks and used to generate a more comprehensive understanding of cellular regulation. This will enable a better characterization of individual genetic components and modules, opening up the possibility of designing more complex synthetic gene networks. Such networks could be engineered with specific properties that filter unwanted noise from signaling networks or exploit noise-induced switching to sample more diverse phenotypes."