ANDOR and beyond: dynamically switchable logic gates as modules for flexible information processing in biochemical regulatory networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces a tunable biochemical system capable of performing multiple logical operations by dynamically switching between different states, enhancing flexibility in biological information processing.

Contribution

It presents a novel dynamical system that can switch between AND, OR, and XOR logic gates based on its state, with analysis of robustness and efficiency trade-offs.

Findings

The system can perform multiple logic functions dynamically.

Robustness of switchable gates is quantitatively analyzed.

Trade-offs between reliability and efficiency are characterized.

Abstract

An information processing circuit must be flexible to perform multiple tasks: biochemical information processing circuits in living systems can have multiple functions, requiring them to perform distinct computational tasks in different scenarios. Here, we describe a tunable dynamical system that performs different logical operations (such as AND, OR, and XOR) depending on which basin of attraction the dynamics resides in. We analyze the robustness of these dynamically switchable logic gates, and characterize the trade-off between reliability and efficiency in their function.