title: Implementation of Complex Biological Logic Circuits Using Spatially Distributed Multicellular Consortia.
abstract: Engineered synthetic biological devices have been designed to perform a variety of functions from sensing molecules and bioremediation to energy production and biomedicine. Notwithstanding, a major limitation of in vivo circuit implementation is the constraint associated to the use of standard methodologies for circuit design. Thus, future success of these devices depends on obtaining circuits with scalable complexity and reusable parts. Here we show how to build complex computational devices using multicellular consortia and space as key computational elements. This spatial modular design grants scalability since its general architecture is independent of the circuit's complexity, minimizes wiring requirements and allows component reusability with minimal genetic engineering. The potential use of this approach is demonstrated by implementation of complex logical functions with up to six inputs, thus demonstrating the scalability and flexibility of this method. The potential implications of our results are outlined.
authors.affiliation: ICREA-Complex Systems Laboratory, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Macia
authors.affiliation: Cell Signaling Research Group, Departament de Ciències Experimentals i de la Salut, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Romilde
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Manzoni
authors.affiliation: ICREA-Complex Systems Laboratory, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.|Cell Signaling Research Group, Departament de Ciències Experimentals i de la Salut, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Núria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Conde
authors.affiliation: Cell Signaling Research Group, Departament de Ciències Experimentals i de la Salut, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Arturo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Urrios
authors.affiliation: Cell Signaling Research Group, Departament de Ciències Experimentals i de la Salut, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Eulàlia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: de Nadal
authors.affiliation: ICREA-Complex Systems Laboratory, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.|Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States of America.
authors.forename: Ricard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Solé
authors.affiliation: Cell Signaling Research Group, Departament de Ciències Experimentals i de la Salut, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Francesc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Posas
mesh_terms: D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D008128:Logic; D008954:Models, Biological; D058615:Synthetic Biology; D015003:Yeasts
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