Regulatory phenomena and the data of growth.
The specific growth rate of a population of cells is proposed to be a kinetic expression of the regulatory responses prevalent in the population. The proposal is justified by generalizing from the dependence of the specific growth rate of cells on the concentration of a nutrient to the regulatory response of the cells to the nutrient or to any other substance which can modify the rate of growth of the population. A previously unrecognized pattern of regulation of growth is demonstrated for the chick embryo by use of a novel method of obtaining specific growth rates. The method for specific growth rates is based on derivatives of orthogonal polynomials, and does not require that the data fit a preconceived equation of growth.
D000818:Animals; D002468:Cell Physiological Phenomena; D002642:Chick Embryo; D006128:Growth; D007700:Kinetics; D008433:Mathematics; D008954:Models, Biological