The $R^3$ Lab
Rules, Regulations and Randomness
James Holehouse
Santa Fe Institute
Santa Fe, NM, 87501
We study the growth of rules and regulations across Biology and Society, and the role that randomness plays in shaping a Complex System’s function and structure.
Core questions driving the $R^3$ Lab’s research are:
- How does biochemical randomness complicate our understanding of genetic regulation? What can transient behaviors provide for biological function that steady state behaviors cannot?
- How is biological regulation distinct from social regulation? Can we construct substance-independent theories of regulatory function?
- What are the constraints dictating how regulatory systems diversify, specialize and coordinate their elements? To what extent can a complex system’s organization be explained by simple null models?
James Holehouse, the PI, will be joining WashU as an assistant professor in the Fall of 2026. Until then he will be doing research at the Santa Fe Institute. The Lab is activeley recruiting PhD students and Postdocs from Comp Bio, Math Bio, Evo Bio, Applied Math, and Statistical Physics backgrounds to start at/after Fall 2026—please see here!
news
| May 08, 2026 | James gave a talk at WashU’s Symposium on Advances in Digital Innovation Across Arts \& Science and Beyond on the topic The Science of Regulation. |
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| May 01, 2026 | James’ article Do distinct subpopulations signify modes of behaviour in a noisy single cell? is out now at Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Find the article here! |
| Apr 28, 2026 | Leonardo Estrella Dzib (Minerva University) and James have recently submitted an article on gene-regulatory evolution in the presence of cell-to-cell variability! Find the pre-print here. |
| May 01, 2025 | The Rules, Regulations and Randomness ($R^3$) Lab will be starting at WashU’s department of Biology in Fall 2026! |