Title :
Synthesising gene clock with toggle switch and oscillator
Author :
Chun-Liang Lin ; Po-Kuei Chen ; Young-Yi Cheng
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng., Nat. Chung Hsing Univ., Taichung, Taiwan
Abstract :
The usefulness of a genetic clock lies in its role to stimulate a sequence of logic reactions for sequential biological circuits. A clock signal is a periodic square wave, its amplitude alternates at a steady frequency between fixed minimal and maximal levels. Transition between the minimum and the maximum is instantaneous for an ideal square wave; however, the function is unrealisable in physical bio-systems. This research develops a new genetic clock generator based on a genetic oscillator, in which, a sine wave generator is adopted as a signal oscillator. It is shown that combination of a genetic oscillator with a toggle switch is able to generate clock signals forming an efficient way to generate a near square wave. In silico study confirms the proposed idea.
Keywords :
biological techniques; genetics; oscillators; square-wave generators; switches; clock signal; genetic clock; genetic clock generator; genetic oscillator; logic reaction sequence; periodic square wave; physical biosystem; sequential biological circuits; signal oscillator; sine wave generator; toggle switch;
Journal_Title :
Systems Biology, IET
DOI :
10.1049/iet-syb.2014.0022