​
image10067[1].png 
 

Network design and kinetic analyses of network behavior. A mixture of molecules can be regarded as a ‘network’ if all the molecular components interact with other molecules - either via physical or functional interactions. In a mini-review paper in 2008 (in Angewandte Chemie) we have described and analyzed how one can use bottom-up approaches to design artificial networks of different size and complexity. It has been postulated that even networks made up of small numbers of molecules possess a wealth of molecular information sufficient to perform rather complex behavior. To probe this assumption, we study different arrays consisting of replicating molecules. We have shown that using realistic parameters from peptides or DNA replication experiments, it is possible to construct all the three-element Boolean logic gates, and even more complex arithmetic units, and network motifs. Recently, we have further analyzed the construction of increasingly complex networks, and demonstrated specifically that cooperative and asymmetrically linked units that employ high order catalysis are required components of such networks. With the goal of further developing understanding of evolutionary dynamics in higher order autocatalytic networks, we have developed together with the late Dr. Emmanuel Tannenbaum RNA quasispecies models that can be used for analyzing mutation-selection balance and the formation of higher ‘animate’ features within these networks.

 

       References:

  1. G. Ashkenasy, Z. Dadon, S. Alesebi, N. Wagner, N. Ashkenasy “Building Logic into Peptide Networks: Bottom-Up and Top-Down" Isr. J. Chem. (review) 2011, 51, 106 – 117 .

  2. N. Wagner, E. Tannenbaum, G. Ashkenasy  “Second-Order Catalytic Quasispecies Model Yields Discontinuous Mean Fitness at the Error Threshold" Phys. Rev. Lett. 2010, 104, 188101/1-188101/4.

  3. N. Wagner, G. Ashkenasy “Systems Chemistry: Logic Gates, Arithmetic Units and Network Motifs in Small Networks" Chem. Eur. J. 2009, 15, 1765 – 1775.

  4. N. Wagner, G. Ashkenasy “Symmetry and Order in Systems Chemistry" J. Chem. Phys. 2009, 130, 164907/1-164907/6.

​​​​