A novel method for identifying the body’s ’noisiest’ networks

A team of scientists led by Yale University systems biologist and biomedical engineer Andre Levchenko has developed a novel method for mapping the biochemical variability, or "noise," in how human cells respond to chemical signals. The research, published Nov. 17 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, could be used to tailor drug delivery to a patient's individual cell responses and may have further implications for advances in semiconductor chip design. Levchenko's method is founded on the recognition that every cell reacts uniquely to the body's chemical signals, even if the cells are all from the same patient and even the same tissue - some cells may react strongly, while other cells may not react at all. A wide diversity of responses is considered a noisy response. The new method maps noise across multiple branches of complicated biochemical networks. "Knowing how variable the activity is allows us to better target the spectra of activities in those networks," said Levchenko, the John C. Malone Professor of Biomedical Engineering and inaugural director of the Yale Systems Biology Institute.