Biochemical Evolution

Ordering events of biochemical evolution.

Metabolic pathways exhibit structures resulting from an evolutionary process. Pathways have been inherited through time with modification, from the earliest periods of life. It is possible to compare the structure of pathways as done in comparative anatomy, i.e. for inferring ancestral pathways or parts of it (ancestral enzymatic functions), using standard phylogenetic reconstruction. Thus a ph...

Evolution of 'design' principles in biochemical networks.

Computer modelling and simulation are commonly used to analyse engineered systems. Biological systems differ in that they often cannot be accurately characterised, so simulations are far from exact. Nonetheless, we argue in this paper that evolution results in recurring, dynamic organisational principles in biological systems, and that simulation can help to identify them and analyse their dyna...

On the Evolution of Biochemical Syntheses.

On the Adaptive Design Rules of Biochemical Networks in Evolution

Biochemical networks are the backbones of physiological systems of organisms. Therefore, a biochemical network should be sufficiently robust (not sensitive) to tolerate genetic mutations and environmental changes in the evolutionary process. In this study, based on the robustness and sensitivity criteria of biochemical networks, the adaptive design rules are developed for natural selection in t...

On Biochemical Evolution: Lysine Formation in Higher Plants.

* This study was aided by a grant from the National Science Foundation. t Predoctoral Fellow of the National Cancer Institute, United States Public Health Service. t Predoctoral Fellow of the National Heart Institute, United States Public Health Service. § Summer Research Fellow of the United States Public Health Service, 1957; Summer Research Fellow of the National Science Foundation, 1958. 1 ...