Gene Theory
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180904232303.htm
The linked source contains an article submitted by New York University entitled Game-Theory Approach to Understanding Genetics. NYU Professors Bhubaneswar Mishra and Steven Masset have applied game theory to biochemical and genetic concepts, viewing genes as though they are players in a game and seeking payoffs. This article describes the novel ways in which Mishra and Masset have applied game theory and its fundamentals to biochemistry, and how their process has progressed understandings of genetics and made possible future scientific advancements.
Their research uses game theory concepts to understand these biochemical interactions, modeling communication between macromolecule “senders” and “receivers”. Macromolecules communicate with one another in order to bind and engage in biochemical reactions, and within these interactions occur behaviors associated with human communication such as deception, imitation, cooperation, and competition. For example, pathogens and “selfish” elements such as transposons all undergo methods of deception because they engage in interactions in which there are conflicts of interest between the “sender” and the “receiver”. These interactions can tell us about how our genetic code evolved in ways to accommodate them, such as in the existence of what Mishra and Masset call “molecular sanctioning” which works to control the occurrences of deception between molecules.
In lecture, we have been learning about game theory in terms of actual games and strategic interactions such as soccer and the prisoner’s dilemma. In these cases, it is easy to see how its concepts apply. However, to consider game theory in terms of genetics and science illuminates much of what makes its concepts so interesting. Game theory is much more complex and applicable than we maybe have had a chance to see thus far, and also forces me to reconsider much of what we do know in a much more expansive way.