Bio-QuBIC: Robust Engineering using Biologically-Inspired Models of Cell Differentiation and Morphogenesis

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EIA-0130391Gerald J. SussmanMassachusetts Institue of TechnologyTitle: Robust Engineering Using Biologically-inspired Models of Cell Differentiation and MorphogenesisThis research focuses on morphogenesis and developmental biology as an inspiration for algorithms and general principles for organizing complex behavior from locally interacting agents. The goal is to design artificial systems that replicate biological robustness, and to use insights from these systems to understand the capabilities of biological systems. The general principles are formalized as programming languages --- with explicit primitives, means of combination, and means of abstraction --- thus providing a framework or the design and analysis of self-assembling systems. Previous work demonstrated this approach with a programming language that specifies a robust process for shape formation on a sheet of identically-programmed ``cells'' using local primitives from epithelial cell morphogenesis and Drosophila cell differentiation, and rules from geometry. The specific aims are: 1) developing new programming models for domains such as growth and apoptosis (cell death) and 2) investigating the connection of current programming models to biological processes. This research will have significant impact on both the engineering principles for robust design and on the understanding of biological morphogenesis.