Condensed Matter Seminars

In living cells, DNA serves as the template from which mRNA is synthesized. mRNA is then "read," or translated, by ribosomes to produce proteins. Previous studies have shown a nonlinear relationship between mRNA and protein levels, due to the complexity of the translation process. A model is under development to help explain the quantitative relationship between mRNA and protein levels for all genes in Escherichia coli. Statistical physics methods enable a detailed understanding of a single mRNA with a uniform sequence. Realistic, nonuniform sequences are a far more complex case, but mean field equations provide a good approximation for protein production rates. Details of the model will be discussed, and preliminary results comparing the model to experimental data will be presented.