Making sense of noise: introducing students to stochastic processes in order to better understand biological behaviors

TL;DR

This paper emphasizes the importance of teaching students about stochastic processes in biology to better understand the unpredictable behaviors arising from molecular interactions, small molecule numbers, and Brownian motion.

Contribution

It advocates for integrating stochastic process concepts into biology education and offers suggestions for effective teaching approaches.

Findings

Stochastic processes are fundamental to biological behavior.

Students are rarely introduced to stochastic concepts in biology.

Teaching stochastic processes can improve understanding of biological unpredictability.

Abstract

Biological systems are characterized by the ubiquitous roles of weak, that is, non-covalent molecular interactions, small, often very small, numbers of specific molecules per cell, and Brownian motion. These combine to produce stochastic behaviors at all levels from the molecular and cellular to the behavioral. That said, students are rarely introduced to the ubiquitous role of stochastic processes in biological systems, and how they produce unpredictable behaviors. Here I present the case that they need to be and provide some suggestions as to how it might be approached.