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living cell calculator

18.05.2013

Using analog computing circuits, scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have created a living calculator that can calculate logarithms and extract square roots.

The original calculator is based on synthetic, that is, created in the laboratory, living cells in which genes are used as elements of a computing machine. These genes perform mathematical calculations in analog mode, that is, they are combined and separated in the process of counting using natural biochemical functions. Due to the fact that already existing cellular mechanisms are used, a living calculator works much more efficiently than hybrids that are trying to instill alien "non-living" digital calculation schemes.

Analog calculations using a live calculator should be especially useful, for example, for creating digital-analogue systems that detect the threshold concentration of certain molecules. In other words, based on the new technology, it is possible to create highly effective methods for the early detection of diseases.

The creation of a living calculator began with the fact that scientists discovered the similarity between analog transistor circuits and circuits of chemical processes that occur inside the cell. In 2011, they even managed to simulate the biological interactions between DNA and proteins using an electronic circuit of only 8 transistors.

In the new work, the scientists did the opposite: they transferred analog electronic circuits into living cells. Analog calculations in the case of biology are more efficient than digital ones, especially when high accuracy of calculations is not required. Analog circuits in living cells use natural continuous computational functions that under natural conditions ensure the vital activity of cells. For example, the level of glucose in living cells is analogous to current or voltage in an electronic circuit.

The live calculator created at MIT works quite simply. To create an analog circuit capable of adding or multiplying and calculating the total number of two or more connections in a cell, the researchers used a combination of two circuits, each responding to a different factor. In one scheme, sugar (arabinose) acts on a transcription factor that activates the gene encoding green fluorescent protein (GFP). In the second scheme, the AHL signaling molecule also includes a gene that produces GFP. Thus, by measuring the total amount of GFP, one can calculate the total amount of arabinose and AHL.

In this way, you can create living analog circuits that can divide, take square roots, and perform other calculations. So far, this work is only the beginning of a long journey, but in the future, living analog computers will open up completely new possibilities. In particular, the accuracy of gene expression measurement, molecular sensing, and control of living cells will be greatly improved.

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