Graphical networks such as the one shown immediately below are a form of knowledge representation. This particular example delineates the flow of information driving cellular differentiation required to build the embryonic skeleton of a sea urchin embryo. In other words, it’s a blueprint that conveys the instructions necessary for this anatomical feature to exist. The topology of gene regulatory networks carries profound evolutionary implications. Furthermore, such research has practical applications for biomedicine. A comprehensive gene regulatory network would include thousands of specifically controlled genes, such that it would be possible to look up the control circuitry of any gene and see which inputs drive its expression. This in turn, is a tool of unprecedented experimental power for researchers who wish to dissect the functional properties of proteins or for those attempting to synthetically alter the developmental outcome.
Developmental gene regulatory network (above); primary mesenchyme cells (below)