911勛圖

Synopsis

Biological systems respond to environmental challenges through surprisingly simple control mechanisms despite their enormous complexity, yet how low-dimensional controllers can regulate high-dimensional networks remains unclear. We develop a theoretical framework showing selection for environmental robustness drives evolution of ���soft modes��� in biological state space which enable simple controllers to function effectively. Our model predicts soft-mode mediated environmental stress-response systems also buffer mutations, confirmed using fitness data from yeast strains subject to environmental and mutational perturbations. We also validate the counterintuitive prediction that eliminating controllers reduces stress response dimensionality. This work helps explain the ubiquity of low-dimensional control observed across biological systems and provides testable insights for understanding robustness, with implications for evolutionary biology and the molecular biology of stress response.

by Christopher Joel Russo, Kabir Husain, Rama Ranganathan, David Pincus, and Arvind Murugan
PNAS (2026)