BIC: EMT: Cooperative and Adaptive Behaviors By Molecular Robots

能够合作和适应行为的人造分子规模机器人目前牢牢地停留在科幻领域。然而，我们将证明，当面临某些任务时，类似于宏观机器人的分子确实可以表现出简单的合作和适应形式。这些“分子机器人”，我们称之为“蛇”，由含有多个催化单元的核酸链组成。它们在覆盖着底物的地貌上移动(“行走”)，在它们身后留下一条分裂的底物的痕迹。我们将研究这些分子机器人整合来自溶液的额外催化片段(肢体)的能力，或者当我们迫使它们执行更长的行走时形成二聚体的能力。那些获得更多四肢或形成合作二聚体的蛇，在恶劣的条件下存活下来，将被允许放大。这样的实验将有助于在未来创造出展示群体智能和能够进行分布式计算的分子机器人。

Artificial molecular-scale robots capable of cooperative and adaptive behavior currently reside firmly in the realm of science fiction. However, we will demonstrate that molecules behaving similarly to macroscopic robots can indeed display simple forms of cooperation and adaptation, when challenged with certain tasks. These "molecular robots" which we call "snakes" consists of chains of nucleic acids incorporating multiple catalytic units. They move ("walk") over landscapes covered with substrates, leaving a trail of cleaved substrates behind them. We will study the ability of these molecular robots to integrate additional catalytic segments (limbs) from the solution, or to form dimers, when we force them to perform longer walks. Those snakes that acquire additional limbs, or form cooperating dimers, while surviving harsh conditions, will be allowed to amplify. Such experiments will help create in the future molecular robots that display swarm intelligence and that are capable of distributive computing.