Abstract
In a previous contribution we briefly sketched novel topics that lie at the interface between synthetic biology (SB) and artificial intelligence (AI). In particular, we discussed (a) the possibility of engrafting chemical AI-like tools in bottom-up synthetic cell systems, and (b) the investigation of fundamental concepts of information theory – such as the “semantic” information – by means of synthetic cells. Here we intend to report on the progress done by our groups in these fields and shortly devise future steps for theoretical and experimental approaches.
L. Del Moro and B. Ruzzante—These Authors contribute equally to this work.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Cordeschi, R.: The Discovery of the Artificial. Behavior, Mind and Machines Before and Beyond Cybernetics. Studies in Cognitive Systems, Mind and Machines Before and Beyond Cybernetics. Springer, Dordrecht (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9870-5
Damiano, L., Stano, P.: Synthetic biology and artificial intelligence. Grounding a cross-disciplinary approach to the synthetic exploration of (embodied) cognition. Complex Syst. 27, 199–228 (2018). https://doi.org/10.25088/ComplexSystems.27.3.199
Damiano, L., Stano, P.: A wetware embodied AI? Towards an autopoietic organizational approach grounded in synthetic biology. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 9, 873 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2021.724023
Gentili, P.L.: The fuzziness of the molecular world and its perspectives. Molecules 23(8), 2074 (2018). https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules23082074
Gentili, P.L.: Establishing a new link between fuzzy logic, neuroscience, and quantum mechanics through Bayesian probability: perspectives in artificial intelligence and unconventional computing. Molecules 26(19), 5987 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26195987
Gentili, P.L., Stano, P.: Chemical neural networks inside synthetic cells? A proposal for their realization and modeling. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 10, 927110 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2022.927110
Hellingwerf, K.J., Postma, P.W., Tommassen, J., Westerhoff, H.V.: Signal transduction in bacteria: phospho-neural network(s) in Escherichia coli? FEMS Microbiol. Rev. 16(4), 309–321 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6976.1995.tb00178.x
Horiguchi, T.: Spin model with fuzzy Ising spin. Phys. Lett. A 176(3), 179–183 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1016/0375-9601(93)91031-Y
Kolchinsky, A., Wolpert, D.H.: Semantic information, autonomous agency and non-equilibrium statistical physics. Interface Focus 8, 20180041 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2018.0041
Logan, R.K.: What is information?: why is it relativistic and what is its relationship to materiality, meaning and organization. Information 3(1), 68–91 (2012). https://doi.org/10.3390/info3010068
Magarini, M., Stano, P.: Synthetic cells engaged in molecular communication: an opportunity for modelling Shannon- and semantic-information in the chemical domain. Front. Commun. Netw. 2, 48 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3389/frcmn.2021.724597
Rampioni, G., D’Angelo, F., Leoni, L., Stano, P.: Gene-expressing liposomes as synthetic cells for molecular communication studies. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 7, 1 (2019). https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2019.00001
Ruzzante, B., Del Moro, L., Magarini, M., Stano, P.: Synthetic cells extract semantic information from their environment. IEEE Trans. Mol. Biol. Multi-Scale Commun. 9(1), 23–27 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1109/TMBMC.2023.3244399
Schrodinger, E.: What is Life? Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1944)
Shannon, C.E.: A mathematical theory of communication. Bell Syst. Tech. J. 27(3), 379–423 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1538-7305.1948.tb01338.x
Stano, P., Rampioni, G., Roli, A., Gentili, P.L., Damiano, L.: En route for implanting a minimal chemical perceptron into artificial cells. In: Holler, S., Löffler, R., Bartlett, S. (eds.) Proceedings of the Conference on Artificial Life; Online, 18–22 July 2022, pp. 465–467. MIT Press, Cambridge (2022)
Stano, P.: Exploring information and communication theories for synthetic cell research. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 10, 927156 (2022). https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2022.927156
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Del Moro, L. et al. (2023). Chemical Neural Networks and Semantic Information Investigated Through Synthetic Cells. In: De Stefano, C., Fontanella, F., Vanneschi, L. (eds) Artificial Life and Evolutionary Computation. WIVACE 2022. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1780. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31183-3_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31183-3_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-31182-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-31183-3
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)