Barycentric Algebras and Gene Expression

摘要

Barycentric algebras have seen widespread application in the modeling of convex sets, semilattices, and quantum mechanics. Recently, they were developed further to encompass Boolean logic and if-then-else algebras. This paper discusses an application of barycentric algebras to systems biology. Here, they provide a calculus for the conversion from simplified Boolean models of gene transcription to fuzzy models that give a more realistic tracking of the biochemistry. Indeed, it appears that logic gates experimentally observed in cells actually follow the barycentric algebra format.