Dealing with molecular noise

Life at the molecular level seems like a chaotic mess. Proteins and other molecules in the cell are continuously bombarded by water molecules resulting in random motion of most molecules in the cell. Within this chaos genes try to function properly: expressing and binding proteins at the right location and time. Because of the chaos the timing of the bindings can be different from one cell to the other. This is why two genetically identical cells can behave very different in the same situation.
How important is this molecular noise for cell behaviour? With a background in maths and physics the Alexander van Oudenaarden Group tries to unravel the secrets of individual cell behaviour.