Before revision: Biochemical feedback leads to dynamical transitions between cellular states, reminiscent of phase transitions in statistical physics. Yet it is unknown whether cells exhibit the scaling properties associated with phase transitions, and if they do, to which universality class or classes they belong. Here we show using a generic birth-death model that biochemical feedback near a bifurcation point exhibits the scaling exponents of the Ising universality class in the mean-field limit.
After revision: Positive feedback in biochemical networks can lead to a bifurcation in state space. Universality implies that if molecules are well mixed, this bifurcation should exhibit the critical scaling behavior of the Ising universality class in the mean-field limit.