Royal Society special issue – Causes and consequences of stochastic processes in development and disease
Posted by felicity davie, on 5 March 2024
Royal Society Publishing has recently published a special issue from Philosophical Transactions B entitled – Causes and consequences of stochastic processes in development and disease.
The issue is organised and edited by Dagan Jenkins, Jonathan Chubb and Gabriel Galea.
The articles can be accessed directly at www.bit.ly/PTB1900
About this issue
Biology is inherently variable. Some differences between individuals are controlled by genetics and predictable: all Chihuahuas are smaller than Great Danes even though they are members of the same species. This issue presents studies of biological variability which is not predictable, emphasising ‘random’ differences between cells or organisms. Sources of random variability are identified using both statistical methods and cellular analyses, in controlled cultures and growing tissues. Some studies show that consequences of variability can be positive, for example by allowing a population to resist external stresses, like plants resisting unpredictable weather. In other situations, it can be detrimental, such as by allowing some cancer cells to resist treatment or resulting in error-prone embryo development which causes malformations at birth.
This issue arises from a Royal Society discussion meeting held in April 2023.
Purchase the print issue at the reduced price of £40 by contacting sales@royalsociety.org
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