Building a synthetic chemical synapse through harnessed stochasticity

在分子水平上，生物是嘈杂的，生命已经进化出过多的机制来利用这种噪音来产生有用的输出。如果我们想要构建新的生命系统来更多地了解生物学和生命的起源，那么我们就不能忽视噪音。该项目旨在应用一种包含随机性的设计理念来构建人工化学突触。预期的结果包括为下一代更具活力的人造细胞绘制蓝图，开发用于阐明生物物理学和系统生物学原理的重要工具，以及加深我们对嘈杂的分子水平事件如何对宏观尺度行为产生下游影响的理解。这涉及到几个国际合作。

At the molecular level, biology is noisy, and life has evolved a plethora of mechanisms to harness this noise for useful output. If we want to construct de novo living systems to learn more about biology and the origin of life, then we must not ignore noise. This project aims to apply a design philosophy that embraces randomness to construct an artificial chemical synapse. Expected outcomes include creating a blueprint for the next generation of more dynamic artificial cells, developing vital tools for the elucidation of principles in biophysics and systems biology, and deepening our understanding of how noisy molecular level events have downstream effects on macro-scale behaviours. Several international collaborations are involved.