Department of Artificial Complex Systems Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan.
Artif Life. 2010 Spring;16(2):155-77. doi: 10.1162/artl.2010.16.2.16203.
In the field of molecular biology, extending now to the more comprehensive area of systems biology, the development of computer models for synthetic cell simulation has accelerated extensively and has begun to be used for various purposes, such as biochemical analysis. These models, describing the highly efficient environmental searching mechanisms and adaptability of living organisms, can be used as machine-control algorithms in the field of systems engineering. To realize this biomimetic intelligent control, we require a stripped-down model that expresses a series of information-processing tasks from stimulation input to movement. Here we selected the bacterium Escherichia coli as a target organism because it has a relatively simple molecular and organizational structure, which can be characterized using biochemical and genetic analyses. We particularly focused on a motility response known as chemotaxis and developed a computer model that includes not only intracellular information processing but also motor control. After confirming the effectiveness and validity of the proposed model by a series of computer simulations, we applied it to a mobile robot control problem. This is probably the first study showing that a bacterial model can be used as an autonomous control algorithm. Our results suggest that many excellent models proposed thus far for biochemical purposes can be applied to problems in other fields.
在分子生物学领域，现在已经扩展到更全面的系统生物学领域，用于合成细胞模拟的计算机模型的发展已经大大加速，并开始被用于各种目的，如生化分析。这些模型描述了生物体高效的环境搜索机制和适应性，可以用作系统工程领域的机器控制算法。为了实现这种仿生智能控制，我们需要一个简化的模型，它可以从刺激输入到运动来表达一系列信息处理任务。在这里，我们选择了细菌大肠杆菌作为目标生物，因为它具有相对简单的分子和组织结构，可以通过生化和遗传分析来表征。我们特别关注一种称为趋化性的运动响应，并开发了一个计算机模型，该模型不仅包括细胞内信息处理，还包括电机控制。在通过一系列计算机模拟确认了所提出模型的有效性和有效性之后，我们将其应用于移动机器人控制问题。这可能是第一个表明细菌模型可作为自主控制算法的研究。我们的结果表明，迄今为止为生化目的提出的许多优秀模型可以应用于其他领域的问题。
