Abstract
Propierties which define living systems at the molecular level include self-organization, communication, adaptive behavior and computation. Logic functions may implement these propierties in biomolecules and therefore may be essential to living systems. Several logic systems from Boolean to Spencer-Brown algebra have been suggested to be applicable to molecular computation. Boolean equations are commonly implemented on silicon chips on computer, but may also exist in nature. For example, the lac and arabinose operons in E. coli, some genetic networks of the metazoan genome, the self-assembly of proteins (i.e. viruses like T4 bacteriophage, cellular cytoskeletal elements, etc) display Boolean logic and show the capability for symbolic logic manipulation in biological connectionist systems. In biological systems logic operations are carried out in nonlinear devices or automata (i.e protein, gen, neuron, etc) producing an output that represent a logical function. Combination of logical functions is the substrate for biocomputation: an emergent propierty of biological systems. In the present article we introduce a method to evaluate the computational activity of automata in the context of biomolecular and artificial (cellular automata) matter. The method is illustrated in two different situations, in the cellular automata realm as well as in a model of finite state protein based computation.
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Lahoz-Beltra, R., Hameroff, S.R. (1995). Energy cost evaluation of computing capabilities in biomolecular and artificial matter. In: Morán, F., Moreno, A., Merelo, J.J., Chacón, P. (eds) Advances in Artificial Life. ECAL 1995. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 929. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-59496-5_350
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-59496-5_350
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