What can control theory say about biologic regulation?

Prof. Mustafa Khammish, Department of Electrical Engineering, Iowa State University

In the post-genomic era, systems approaches will be required to transform the vast amount of new information into new understanding of the organization and function of the complex biological mechanisms that sustain life. The dynamic character of these mechanisms and the prevalence of feedback regulation strategies in their operation make them amenable to systematic mathematical analysis using the same tools that have been used with remarkable success in analyzing and designing engineering control systems. This seems to be the case at all levels of organization, from the system level to the cellular and molecular levels. In this talk, we will examine two regulatory mechanisms at different levels of organization: calcium homeostasis in mammals and the heat shock response in E. coli. We will present the dynamic models developed for these mechanisms, and highlight the role that control theory plays in the understanding of their underlying regulatory strategies.