Before revision:  We study stability properties of a generic gene regulatory network (GRN) and demonstrate that phenomenology of ageing and the associated population mortality rate can be naturally described in terms of critical dynamics of gene regulation and metabolic profiles. We analyze age-dependent microarray datasets and metabolic profiles forDrosophila melanogaster and explicitly show that the resulting GRNs are nearly critical and inherently unstable.
After revision:  We study stability properties of a generic gene regulatory network (GRN) and demonstrate that phenomenology of ageing and the associated population mortality rate can be naturally described in terms of critical dynamics of gene regulation and metabolic levels. Based on the analysis of age-dependent microarray datasets and metabolic profiles forDrosophila melanogaster and explicitly show that the resulting GRNs are nearly critical and inherently unstable.