Stochasticity and Cell Fate

Development involves decision-making in which cells choose between alternative fates. Some decisions are made deterministically in which cells respond to environmental or developmental cues. In other cases, however, cell fate is determined stochastically by noise-driven processes in which cells choose and then maintain a particular fate. I will discuss the use of microfluidics to study the role of stochasticity in the decision to form a bacterial spore. Noise governs the decision to enter the pathway and the choice of the cell pole at which a spore is produced.