title: Synchronization of electronic genetic networks.
abstract: We describe a simple analog electronic circuit that mimics the behavior of a well-known synthetic gene oscillator, the repressilator, which represents a set of three genes repressing one another. Synchronization of a population of such units is thoroughly studied, with the aim to compare the role of global coupling with that of global forcing on the population. Our results show that coupling is much more efficient than forcing in leading the gene population to synchronized oscillations. Furthermore, a modification of the proposed analog circuit leads to a simple electronic version of a genetic toggle switch, which is a simple network of two mutual repressor genes, where control by external forcing is also analyzed.
authors.affiliation: Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos Group, Departamento de Matemáticas y Física Aplicadas y Ciencias de la Naturaleza, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Tulipán s/n, 28933 Móstoles, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wagemakers
authors.forename: Javier M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Buldú
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: García-Ojalvo
authors.forename: Miguel A F
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sanjuán
mesh_terms: D032701:Biomimetics / Q000379:methods*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004581:Electronics; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D016571:Neural Networks, Computer; D015398:Signal Transduction