From the Kurzweill newsletter - Mimicking cells with transistors

[Randy]

Using transistors as analog components to more closely model biology.

Mimicking cells with transistors.

"Since the completion of the Human Genome Project, two thriving new disciplines — synthetic biology and systems biology — have emerged from the observation that in some ways, the sequences of chemical reactions that lead to protein production in cells are a lot like electronic circuits. In general, researchers in both fields tend to analyze reactions in terms of binary oppositions: If a chemical is present, one thing happens; if the chemical is absent, a different thing happens.

But Rahul Sarpeshkar, an associate professor of electrical engineering in MIT’s Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE), thinks that’s the wrong approach. "The signals in cells are not ones or zeroes,” Sarpeshkar says. "That’s an overly simplified abstraction that is kind of a first, crude, useful approximation for what cells do. But everybody knows that’s really wrong.'"

[Duncan]

Hey Randy,

How about this? Proton based transistors that can communicate with
biological systems. Research being performed at the UW.

Find the article here:
http://www.washington.edu/news/articles/proton-based-transistor-could-let-machines-communicate-with-living-things

Regards,
Duncan

On Oct 3, 8:17 pm, Randy <bebo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Using transistors as analog components to more closely model biology.
>

> Mimicking cells with transistors.<http://www.kurzweilai.net/mimicking-cells-with-transistors?utm_source...>