Physarum Chip: Developments in growing computers from slime mould

TL;DR

This paper discusses the Physarum Chip project, which advances the use of slime mould Physarum polycephalum for biological computation and biosensing, demonstrating initial prototypes and future hybrid device development.

Contribution

It introduces the first Physarum-based biosensor and logic gate, marking progress in Physarum computation and biosensing technologies.

Findings

Development of a Physarum biosensor

Implementation of a biological logic gate

Progress towards hybrid electronic-Physarum devices

Abstract

The Phychip project is a collaborative European research initiative to design and implement computation using the organism Physarum polycephalum; it is funded by the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) by the European Commission within CORDIS and the FET Proactive scheme. Included in this presentation are details the development of a Physarum based biosensor and biological logic gate, offering significant advancements in the respective fields. The work demonstrates the first steps towards Physarum computation and practical Physarum Biosensor; subsequent work will focus on development of a hybrid electronic-Physarum device capable of implementing computation.