Effect of noise in intelligent cellular decision making

TL;DR

This paper explores how genetic noise influences decision-making in cells, revealing that noise can enhance the ability of gene regulatory networks to classify external stimuli effectively.

Contribution

It demonstrates that genetic noise can play a constructive role in cellular decision-making, using a simple genetic classifier as a model.

Findings

Genetic noise can improve classification accuracy in cellular decision processes.

Gene regulatory networks can function as perceptrons in biological systems.

Noise has a beneficial role in biological information processing.

Abstract

Similar to intelligent multicellular neural networks controlling human brains, even single cells surprisingly are able to make intelligent decisions to classify several external stimuli or to associate them. This happens because of the fact that gene regulatory networks can perform as perceptrons, simple intelligent schemes known from studies on Artificial Intelligence. We study the role of genetic noise in intelligent decision making at the genetic level and show that noise can play a constructive role helping cells to make a proper decision. We show this using the example of a simple genetic classifier able to classify two external stimuli.