Dynamical task switching in cellular computers

Abstract

This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthetic Biology: From Living Computers to Terraformation. ; We present a scheme for implementing a version of task switching in engineered bacteria, based on the manipulation of plasmid copy numbers. Our method allows for the embedding of multiple computations in a cellular population, whilst minimising resource usage inefficiency. We describe the results of computational simulations of our model, and discuss the potential for future work in this area. ; The work of A.G.-M. is supported by the SynBio3D (UK-EPSRC-EP/R019002/1) project of the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the BioRoboost (EU-H2020-BIOTEC-820699) Contract of the European Union. The work of AR-P is supported by the Spanish TIN2016-81079-R, (MINECO AEI/FEDER, EU) and Madrid Gov. project B2017/BMD-3691, InGEMICS-CM (FSE/FEDER, EU). Work in FdlC laboratory was financed by grant BFU2017-86378-P from the Ministry of Science and Technology (Spain). ; Peer reviewed