Marr's three levels for embryonic development: information, dynamical systems, gene networks

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Brückner, David B., Tkačik, Gašper
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Brückner, David B.
Tkačik, Gašper
author_facet Brückner, David B.
Tkačik, Gašper
contents Developmental patterning comprises processes that range from purely instructed, where external signals specify cell fates, to fully self-organized, where spatial patterns emerge autonomously through cellular interactions. We propose that both extremes -- as well as the continuum of intermediate cases -- can be conceptualized as information processing systems, whose operation can be described using ``Marr's three levels of analysis'': the computational problem being solved, the algorithms employed, and their molecular implementation. At the first level, we argue that normative theories, such as information-theoretic optimization principles, provide a formalization of the computational problem. At the second level, we show how simplified information processing architectures provide a framework for developmental algorithms, which are formalized mathematically using dynamical systems theory. At the third level, the implementation of developmental algorithms is described by mechanistic biophysical and gene regulatory network models.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_24536
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Marr's three levels for embryonic development: information, dynamical systems, gene networks
Brückner, David B.
Tkačik, Gašper
Biological Physics
Developmental patterning comprises processes that range from purely instructed, where external signals specify cell fates, to fully self-organized, where spatial patterns emerge autonomously through cellular interactions. We propose that both extremes -- as well as the continuum of intermediate cases -- can be conceptualized as information processing systems, whose operation can be described using ``Marr's three levels of analysis'': the computational problem being solved, the algorithms employed, and their molecular implementation. At the first level, we argue that normative theories, such as information-theoretic optimization principles, provide a formalization of the computational problem. At the second level, we show how simplified information processing architectures provide a framework for developmental algorithms, which are formalized mathematically using dynamical systems theory. At the third level, the implementation of developmental algorithms is described by mechanistic biophysical and gene regulatory network models.
title Marr's three levels for embryonic development: information, dynamical systems, gene networks
topic Biological Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.24536