Computation in molecular networks: Reliability despite biochemical stochasticity

How is living matter regulated so reliably, despite the molecular and fluctuating nature of their central information processing circuits? I will discuss this problem from two perspectives, in a toy model of stochastic dynamical networks, and subsequently in the context of biological examples. Mathematical toy models can teach us about the conditions of when and how stochastic networks can self-synchronize into a stable and reproducable dynamical pattern. The central question is how a network of unreliable elements can function reliably, for example to perform computations. This points us to possible construction principles of real biochemical regulatory networks which we will discuss for some known biological molecular networks.