The cell cycle is the sequence of events by which a growing cell duplicates all its components and partitions them more-or-less evenly between two daughter cells. In the last 12 years, molecular biologists have made great progress in identifying the genes, proteins and molecular interactions that control the basic events of the cell cycle (DNA synthesis and mitosis). The control system is so complex that its behaviour cannot be understood by casual, hand-waving arguments. We use biochemical kinetics and dynamical systems theory to convert hypothetical molecular mechanisms of cell cycle control into quantitative computational models. By testing our models against experimental observations, we gain new insights into how the control system works. The approach is generally applicable to any complex gene-protein network that regulates some physiological characteristics of a living cell.

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