The role of energy in cellular information processing

Date

Apr 16, 2026

Time

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Speaker

Jeremy Gunawardena

Affiliation

Pompeu Fabra University, Spain

Series

MPI-CBG Thursday Seminar

Language

en

Main Topic

Biologie

Host

Aida Maraj

Description

Energy expenditure is essential to life but cellular information processing can take place without it. Bacterial gene regulation, for example, appears not to rely on it. We have, in consequence, adopted an equilibrium thermodynamic perspective for thinking about how genes work, even in eukaryotes. I will discuss theoretical results based on the "linear framework" that characterise the limits, or Hopfield barriers, to information processing at equilibrium and the challenges of undertaking compelling experiments to reveal the impact of energy expenditure in eukaryotic genomes. More broadly, I will suggest that this research programme shows how mathematical theory can sometimes get behind the data, to uncover a conceptual landscape that leads to new kinds of experiments and new ways of interpreting data.

Last modified: Apr 8, 2026, 7:36:25 AM