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Rockets, gauges, and pendulums: applying engineering principles to cell biology

From flight to radar to Velcro, biological form and function have inspired engineers for centuries. It is equally valuable to consider whether concepts in engineering might provide insights into core biological processes. To explore this idea, cell cycle checkpoints, biological clocks, and signaling...

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Autor principal: Sullivan, William
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The American Society for Cell Biology 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6727760/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31246543
http://dx.doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E19-02-0100
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author Sullivan, William
author_facet Sullivan, William
author_sort Sullivan, William
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description From flight to radar to Velcro, biological form and function have inspired engineers for centuries. It is equally valuable to consider whether concepts in engineering might provide insights into core biological processes. To explore this idea, cell cycle checkpoints, biological clocks, and signaling pathways are viewed here from an engineering perspective. Engineering concepts covered include gauge error, the distinction between precision and accuracy, and the Taguchi method of robust design. Also discussed is the Pareto principle, which describes the observation that, in complex systems, a minority of the components (or inputs) are responsible for a majority of the outputs. These concepts enable engineers to manage complexity, both in system design and in operation. Thus, with new techniques and large data sets revealing ever-increasing levels of biological complexity, an engineering mindset may be particularly valuable for the study of living systems.
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spelling pubmed-67277602019-09-16 Rockets, gauges, and pendulums: applying engineering principles to cell biology Sullivan, William Mol Biol Cell Perspectives From flight to radar to Velcro, biological form and function have inspired engineers for centuries. It is equally valuable to consider whether concepts in engineering might provide insights into core biological processes. To explore this idea, cell cycle checkpoints, biological clocks, and signaling pathways are viewed here from an engineering perspective. Engineering concepts covered include gauge error, the distinction between precision and accuracy, and the Taguchi method of robust design. Also discussed is the Pareto principle, which describes the observation that, in complex systems, a minority of the components (or inputs) are responsible for a majority of the outputs. These concepts enable engineers to manage complexity, both in system design and in operation. Thus, with new techniques and large data sets revealing ever-increasing levels of biological complexity, an engineering mindset may be particularly valuable for the study of living systems. The American Society for Cell Biology 2019-07-01 /pmc/articles/PMC6727760/ /pubmed/31246543 http://dx.doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E19-02-0100 Text en © 2019 Sullivan. “ASCB®,” “The American Society for Cell Biology®,” and “Molecular Biology of the Cell®” are registered trademarks of The American Society for Cell Biology. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0 This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). Two months after publication it is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License.
spellingShingle Perspectives
Sullivan, William
Rockets, gauges, and pendulums: applying engineering principles to cell biology
title Rockets, gauges, and pendulums: applying engineering principles to cell biology
title_full Rockets, gauges, and pendulums: applying engineering principles to cell biology
title_fullStr Rockets, gauges, and pendulums: applying engineering principles to cell biology
title_full_unstemmed Rockets, gauges, and pendulums: applying engineering principles to cell biology
title_short Rockets, gauges, and pendulums: applying engineering principles to cell biology
title_sort rockets, gauges, and pendulums: applying engineering principles to cell biology
topic Perspectives
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6727760/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31246543
http://dx.doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E19-02-0100
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