Oscillations in controlled biochemical systems

Abstract

Stability analysis of equations describing certain biochemical control mechanisms involving negative feedback suggests that limit cycle behavior might be possible if the control system involves a sufficient number of intermediate chemical steps. For the example considered in this paper, digital simulation of the non-linear control system illustrates that limit cycle behavior actually arises for a sixth-order system. On the other hand, the corresponding fourth- and fifth-order systems are asymptotically stable.