Objective
"Synthetic biology is still far from producing flexible, programmable, scalable and predictable engineered constructs able to perform complex computations. The main problem has arisen from the fact that, in contrast to electronic designs where wires have identical nature, in a cell-based system each wire would correspond to a different molecular entity. In a joint effort between theoretical and experimental studies, we have established biological circuits with Distributed Computation capacity (Regot et al., 2011), opening the possibility to develop a novel method of properly design general purpose, LEGO-like multicellular systems able to partially avoid wiring limitation. Here, we propose to explore the limits of Distributed Computation in synthetic cellular systems. To this goal, we will extend our previous circuits to circuits with a higher complexity, never achieved to date as well explore the use of different cellular systems as a biological case study. Our preliminary data indicate that there are two aspects, which were not considered previously, that when combined with Distributed Computation, could permit a strong reduction or even eliminate the wires in biological computation; the first aspect is the use of inverse logic circuits and the second is the development of spatially restricted devices. We will set up the theoretical framework of these novel aspects and establish in vivo circuits spatially restricted cellular systems. To this end we propose 1) to use microfluidic devices for physically restricted cellular networks and 2) to implement circuits with mixed but physiologically isolated cells (without wires) with different computation capabilities. In addition, we will extend these studies to obtain highly reprogrammable circuits. The combination of such approaches should demonstrate that biological computation is scalable, allows constructing arbitrary cell-based computing machines and breaks all current limitations concerning circuit complexity."
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- natural sciences biological sciences synthetic biology
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering information engineering telecommunications telecommunications networks mobile network
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
ERC-2011-ADG_20110310
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Host institution
08002 Barcelona
Spain
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.