Robustness to Stochastic Errors
Predicting the traits and behaviors of an individual from their DNA sequences is proving to be a very challenging and complex problem. One complicating factor is that the connection between genotype and phenotype is probabilistic. Genotypes vary in robustness, the degree that they produce consistent phenotypes across genetically identical individuals. Therefore, some genotypes produce highly predictable phenotypes, whereas other genotypes are less definitive. However, little is known about the genetic control of robustness. Decoding Genotype 1 (G1) into Phenotype 1 (P1) is deterministic (points/lines). However, G2->P2, G3->P3, and G4->P4, show a decoding of genotype to phenotype that contains a stochastic component (grey/white) that may or may not be buffered (yellow).