Qualitatively distinct phenotypes in the design space of biochemical systems.
Although characterization of the genotype has undergone revolutionary advances as a result of the successful genome projects, the chasm between our understanding of a fully characterized gene sequence and the phenotypic repertoire of the organism is as broad and deep as it was in the pre-genomic era. There are two fundamental unsolved problems that provide the context for the challenges in relating genotype to phenotype. We address one of these and describe a generic method for constructing a system design space in which qualitatively distinct phenotypes can be identified and counted, their relative fitness analyzed and compared, and their tolerance to change measured.
Savageau
Michael A
MA
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA 95616-5294, USA. masavageau@ucdavis.edu
Fasani
Rick A
RA
D010582:Bacteriophage lambda / Q000235:genetics; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D005838:Genotype; D008242:Lysogeny; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010641:Phenotype