Ensembles, Dynamics, and Cell Types: Revisiting the Statistical Mechanics Perspective on Cellular Regulation

•50 years Boolean networks as models for gene regulatory networks

•Random Boolean networks near criticality share properties with genetic networks in cells

•Number of attractors scales as the DNA content raised to the 0.63 power, compares well to current estimate from data (0.88)

•Confirms concept of cell types as attractors and predicts number of cell types

Ensembles, Dynamics, and Cell Types: Revisiting the Statistical Mechanics Perspective on Cellular Regulation
Stefan Bornholdt, Stuart Kauffman

Journal of Theoretical Biology