CHARLEMAGNE DISTINGUISHED LECTURE SERIES - Noble Seminar

Location: SUPERC, 6th Floor, Generali Room, 52062 Aachen

Prof. Denis Noble, Ph.D. - From Pacing the Heart to the Pace of Evolution

Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, England

Abstract

Multi-mechanism interpretations of cardiac pacemaker function reveal the extent to which many physiological functions are buffered against genomic change. Contrary to Schrodinger's claim in What is Life? (1944) which led to the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology (Crick 1970), biological functions at higher levels harness stochasticity at lower levels. This harnessing of stochasticity is a prerequisite for the processes by which the pace of evolution can be accelerated through guided control of mutation rates and of buffering by regulatory networks in organisms.

Schrodinger E. 1944 What is life? Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Crick FHC. 1970 Central dogma of molecular biology. Nature 227, 561 – 563. (doi:10.1038/227561a0)
Noble D. Dance to the Tune of Life. Biological Relativity. Cambridge University Press 2016
Noble D. Evolution viewed from physics, physiology and medicine. Interface Focus 2017, 7, 20160159.
Noble R & Noble D. Was the Watchmaker Blind? Or was she One-eyed? Biology, 2017, 6, 47.

Go back