▁cat abol ic ▁path ways ▁may ▁co exist . ▁More ▁generally , ▁deg ener acy ▁is ▁observed ▁in ▁prote ins ▁of ▁every ▁functional ▁class ▁( e . g . ▁en zym atic , ▁struct ural , ▁or ▁regul atory ), ▁protein ▁complex ▁assemb lies , ▁ont ogen esis , ▁the ▁nerv ous ▁system , ▁cell ▁sign alling ▁( c ros st alk ) ▁and ▁numerous ▁other ▁bi ological ▁context s ▁review ed ▁in . ▁ ▁Cont ribution ▁to ▁robust ness ▁ ▁D eg ener acy ▁cont ributes ▁to ▁the ▁robust ness ▁of ▁bi ological ▁tra its ▁through ▁several ▁mechan isms . ▁D eg ener ate ▁components ▁compens ate ▁for ▁one ▁another ▁under ▁conditions ▁where ▁they ▁are ▁function ally ▁redundant , ▁thus ▁providing ▁robust ness ▁against ▁component ▁or ▁path way ▁failure . ▁Because ▁deg ener ate ▁components ▁are ▁somewhat ▁different , ▁they ▁tend ▁to ▁har bor ▁unique ▁sens it iv ities ▁so ▁that ▁a ▁target ed ▁attack ▁such ▁as ▁a ▁specific ▁in hib itor ▁is ▁less ▁likely ▁to ▁present ▁a ▁risk ▁to ▁all ▁components ▁at ▁once . ▁There ▁are ▁numerous ▁bi ological ▁examples ▁where ▁deg ener acy ▁cont ributes ▁to ▁robust ness ▁in ▁this ▁way . ▁For ▁instance , ▁gene ▁families ▁can ▁encode ▁for ▁diverse ▁prote ins ▁with ▁many ▁distinct ive ▁roles ▁yet ▁sometimes ▁these ▁prote ins ▁can ▁compens ate ▁for ▁each ▁other ▁during ▁lost ▁or ▁suppress ed ▁gene ▁expression , ▁as ▁seen ▁in ▁the ▁development al ▁roles ▁of ▁the ▁ad hes ins ▁gene ▁family ▁in ▁Sac char omy ces . ▁ ▁N ut