Critical slowing down may account for the robustness of development

Reply to Zhang et al.: The critical temperature dependence of developmental rates is in search of a mechanism

“…This is qualitatively different from the critical temperature dependence noted by Zhang et al. ( 1 ). How these two different temperature relationships can be reconciled and, more generally, how critical temperature dependence emerges from the networks that control development will be important experimental and theoretical questions.…”

“…First, temperature dependence can be more complex than reported by Zhang et al. ( 1 ). Recently, Olmedo and coworkers ( 3 ) measured temperature dependence of C. elegans larval development at high throughput.…”

“…Zhang et al. ( 1 ), in their letter responding to our recent study on developmental timing in Caenorhabditis elegans (2), suggest this temperature dependence is due to development taking place near a critical point, with the critical temperature. If correct, it would imply that similar conceptual mechanisms underlie processes as diverse as phase transitions in inanimate matter and development in complex multicellular organisms.…”

“…Zhang et al. ( 1 ) speculate that critical behavior could be due to a single transcription factor that therefore must be conserved between widely disparate animals. However, recent theoretical studies have shown that simple behavior, in terms of temperature dependence ( 4 ) or recovery dynamics ( 5 ), can emerge from complex reaction networks independent of the details of individual interactions.…”