Synthetic analog and digital circuits for cellular computation and memory

Biological computation is a major area of focus in synthetic biology because it has the potential to enable a wide range of applications. Synthetic biologists have applied engineering concepts to biological systems in order to construct progressively more complex gene circuits capable of processing...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Purcell, Oliver, Lu, Timothy K.
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biological Engineering
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: Elsevier 2014
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/90331
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9999-6690
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2031-8871
Description
Summary:Biological computation is a major area of focus in synthetic biology because it has the potential to enable a wide range of applications. Synthetic biologists have applied engineering concepts to biological systems in order to construct progressively more complex gene circuits capable of processing information in living cells. Here, we review the current state of computational genetic circuits and describe artificial gene circuits that perform digital and analog computation. We then discuss recent progress in designing gene networks that exhibit memory, and how memory and computation have been integrated to yield more complex systems that can both process and record information. Finally, we suggest new directions for engineering biological circuits capable of computation.