title: Statistical mechanics of pluripotency.
abstract: Recent reports using single-cell profiling have indicated a remarkably dynamic view of pluripotent stem cell identity. Here, we argue that the pluripotent state is not well defined at the single-cell level but rather is a statistical property of stem cell populations, amenable to analysis using the tools of statistical mechanics and information theory.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Human Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration, Institute of Developmental Sciences, School of Mathematics, and Institute for Life Sciences, University of Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK. b.d.macarthur@soton.ac.uk
authors.forename: Ben D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: MacArthur
authors.forename: Ihor R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Lemischka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015870:Gene Expression; D051379:Mice; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D013223:Statistics as Topic