Molecular noise modulates transitions in the cell-fate differentiation landscape
Yujing Liu, Adriana Zanca, Michael P H Stumpf, Lucy Ham · 2026
Read Molecular noise modulates transitions in the cell-fate differentiation landscape by Yujing Liu, Adriana Zanca, Michael P H Stumpf, Lucy Ham (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13646251.txt.
Description
Yujing Liu and three colleagues examine, in a 2026 paper, how random molecular noise changes the routes cells take when switching fate. Biology often pictures cell types as valleys in a landscape, with cells rolling from one valley to another as they develop. Standard math finds the cheapest path between valleys under smooth, deterministic rules. The team instead computed paths when noise rules the small-scale motion inside cells.
For their test systems, the noisy paths strayed substantially from the cheapest deterministic routes. Maps of where transitions actually happen, and of the currents that carry them, differed by noise setting. Simple barrier-crossing pictures missed these shifts. The authors say the result matters wherever models predict how cells change type, from development to reprogramming. Their work gives modelers a way to see noise as a route-shaping force, not mere fuzz on top of a fixed map.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Yujing Liu, Adriana Zanca, Michael P H Stumpf, Lucy Ham |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 58568 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |