Biological systems are collections of elements that communicate However, the more profound quantifiable meanings of information and communication are often overlooked when considering biological systems. Information can be quantified, its flow can be measured and tight bounds exist for its conveyance between {transmitters} and {receivers} in a variety of settings. Furthermore, communications theory is about {em efficient} communication where energy is at a premium. Similarly, energy and its efficient use almost always plays a pivotal role in the description of biological systems. This exploratory work will cover a wide variety of problems in modern biology that involve large collections of cells (``multicellular systems'') from a communications theory perspective and determine if and when a communications theory framework confers any special benefit. Known organizational principles from multicellular systems will be applied to engineering problems which might share the same sorts of constraints and optimization metrics -- such as large multielement sensor networks.
The intellectual merit of this program lies in careful exploration of communications concepts applied to signaling within cells (cellular networks) and between cells (multicellular networks) where mainly cursory application has previously been pursued. The broader impact of developing an effective communications framework for biological systems which can both explain and predict the general behavior of multicellular systems is hard to overestimate. The most obvious impact areas are aging and age-related diseases such as cancer in biology, and distributed specification and assembly of robust structures in engineering. But, a multitude of other applications in biology and engineering are clearly possible.
