We present statistical mechanics models to understand the physical and molecular mechanisms of X-Chromosome Inactivation (XCI), the process whereby a female mammal cell inactivates one of its two X-chromosomes. During XCI, X-chromosomes undergo a series of complex regulatory processes. At the...

We compare and contrast three different, but complementary views of "structure" and "pattern" in spatial processes. For definiteness and analytical clarity we apply all three approaches to the simplest class of spatial processes: one-dimensional Ising spin systems with finite-range interactions....