This talk has two parts to it: In the first part, a stability analysis result is presented which has similar applicability to the small-gain and passivity theorems, but is applicable to a different class of systems. This result has important engineering implications on stability robustness to spill-over dynamics in lightly-damped structures. In the second part, the life cycles of the E. Coli bacterium when infected by the Bacteriophage-lambda virus will be modelled. The corresponding gene regulatory network behaves like a bi-stable toggle switch. It will be shown how "breaking-the-loop" to perform open-loop measurements, together with fixed-point analysis and control-like ideas can assist biologists in their studies to produce effective models. The underlying connection between the first part and the second part of the talk is the study of feedback interconnections. However, the talk will not attempt to make any substantive connection between the two parts as feedback interconnections in biological systems tend to be very complex and results like those presented in the first part of the talk can only be considered as initial steps towards more complete understanding of properties of feedback.
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