Stanislas Leibler

Thursday May 22nd 4:15 PM in KPTC 106

Fluctuations, Information, and Survival: Some Lessons Learned from Bacteria

In recent years, the field of molecular biology has moved away from the study of individual components and toward the study of how they interact, creating a “systemic” approach that seeks an appropriate and quantitative description of cells and organisms. Dr. Leibler’s laboratory is developing both the theoretical and experimental methods necessary for conducting studies on the collective behavior of biomolecules, cells and organisms. By selecting a number of basic questions on how simple genetic and biochemical networks function in bacteria, his lab is beginning to understand how individual components can give rise to complex, collective phenomena.

Dr. Leibler’s lab has also examined the resistance of genetic networks to noise, such as the noise connected with fluctuations in the number of the network’s different components. Using the genetic circuit underlying the circadian clock in cyanobacteria, the laboratory has examined both the physical and biochemical basis by which this noise is absorbed. The laboratory is also interested in building similar networks, such as clocks or logical gates, artificially, using natural components, in order to better understand their functioning and evolvability.

Receiving his Ph.D. At Princeton University, Stanislas Leibler is currently the Gladys T. Perkin professor at The Rockefeller University.

Dr. Leibler and his collaborators are interested in developing new technologies that will facilitate the process of moving from the component descriptions to system descriptions, and they are working on developing mathematical and physical tools that will aid in the extraction of information about different biological networks based on analyzing the interactions between their components under different conditions.