In the biological sciences, the term bow tie (so called for its shape) is a recent concept that tries to grasp the essence of some operational and functional structures observed in biological organisms and other kinds of complex and self-organizing systems.
U biološkim naukama, termin leptir mašna (naziv izabran zbog oblika) je nedavni koncept koji pokušava da pronikne u suštinu nekih operacionih i funkcionalnih struktura uočenih u biološkim organizmima i drugim vrstama kompleksnih i samoorganizujućih sistema.