Adaptation to Optimal Cell Growth through Self-Organized Criticality

A simple cell model consisting of a catalytic reaction network is studied to show that cellular states are self-organized in a critical state for achieving optimal growth; we consider the catalytic network dynamics over a wide range of environmental conditions, through the spontaneous regulation of nutrient transport into the cell. Furthermore, we find that the adaptability of cellular growth to reach a critical state depends only on the extent of environmental changes, while all chemical species in the cell exhibit correlated partial adaptation. These results are in remarkable agreement with the recent experimental observations of the present cells.