Embryonics: A microscopic view of the molecular architecture

Abstract

The ontogenetic development of living beings suggests the design of a new kind of multicellular automaton endowed with novel quasi-biological properties: self-repair and self-replication. In the framework of the Embryonics (embryonic electronics) project, we have developed such an automaton. Its macroscopic architecture is defined by three features: multicellular organization, cellular differentiation, and cellular division which are described in a companion paper [5]. In order to cope with the complexity of real problems, the cell is itself decomposed into an array of smaller elements, the molecules, themselves defined by three features: multimolecular organization, self-test and self-repair, and finally cellular self-replication, which is the basis of the macroscopic process of cellular division. These microscopic properties are illustrated by the example of an up-down counter. Finally, we propose a design methodology based on three successive configurations of the basic molecular tissue, a novel FPGA. These configurations are analogous to the operation of three kinds of genetic information: the polymerase, ribosomic, and operative genomes.