A dynamical model of genetic networks for cell differentiation

A mathematical model is proposed which is able to describe the most important features of cell differ- entiation, without requiring specific detailed assumptions concerning the interactions which drive the phenomenon. On the contrary, cell differentiation is described here as an emergent property of a generic model of the underlying gene regulatory network, and it can therefore be applied to a variety of different organisms. The model points to a peculiar role of cellular noise in differentiation and leads to non trivial predictions which could be sub ject to experimental testing. Moreover, a single model proves able to describe several different phenomena observed in various differentiation processes.