Prof. Jens Timmer: "Adventures of a Theoretical Physicist in Biology: Design Principles and Impossible Experiments "

Prof. Jens Timmer

External Senior Fellow of the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies

Adventures of a Theoretical Physicist in Biology: Design Principles and Impossible Experiments

Physics has fundamental laws expressed in the language of mathematics. Biology has evolution and, therefore, in contrast to physics, can reasonably talk about "optimisation" and "function". By the example of bacterial chemotaxis it will be exemplified how mathematical modelling can contribute to understand function and design principles of cellular signalling pathways. Computer-based in silico experiments which are impossible to be conducted in the wet lab will be discussed that indicate evolutionary optimisation of the bacterial chemotaxis signalling pathway.