Communications of the ACM
Training Cells to Perform Boolean Functions? It's Logical
Johns Hopkins professor Takanari Inoue
Credit: Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University researchers have engineered cells that behave like AND and OR Boolean logic gates, producing an output based on one or more unique inputs, a development that could lead to computers that use cells as circuits.
The researchers used a technique called chemically inducible dimerization (CIT), which takes advantage of biological mechanisms that bring together two proteins into a complex in the presence of a chemical. The researchers relied on one system that brings two proteins, called FRB and FKBP, together in the presence of a drug called rapamycin.
The researchers used a second CIT system that brings together two other proteins, called GID1 and GAI, in the presence of a plant hormone called gibberellin. When either FRB and FKBP or GID1 and GAI were combined, the cell's membrane developed ruffles with the rapamycin-based complex, according to Johns Hopkins professor Takanari Inoue.
Tests show that each of the engineered cellular logic gates produced the desired response in a matter of seconds. “People like to have speedy computation,” Inoue says. “We were hoping to achieve computation in cells on the order of seconds, which is significantly faster than what people have achieved thus far."
From Johns Hopkins University
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