42,405 research outputs found
Synthetic biology and microdevices : a powerful combination
Recent developments demonstrate that the combination of microbiology with micro-and nanoelectronics is a successful approach to develop new miniaturized sensing devices and other technologies. In the last decade, there has been a shift from the optimization of the abiotic components, for example, the chip, to the improvement of the processing capabilities of cells through genetic engineering. The synthetic biology approach will not only give rise to systems with new functionalities, but will also improve the robustness and speed of their response towards applied signals. To this end, the development of new genetic circuits has to be guided by computational design methods that enable to tune and optimize the circuit response. As the successful design of genetic circuits is highly dependent on the quality and reliability of its composing elements, intense characterization of standard biological parts will be crucial for an efficient rational design process in the development of new genetic circuits. Microengineered devices can thereby offer a new analytical approach for the study of complex biological parts and systems. By summarizing the recent techniques in creating new synthetic circuits and in integrating biology with microdevices, this review aims at emphasizing the power of combining synthetic biology with microfluidics and microelectronics
FragViz: visualization of fragmented networks
BACKGROUND
Researchers in systems biology use network visualization to summarize the results of their analysis. Such networks often include unconnected components, which popular network alignment algorithms place arbitrarily with respect to the rest of the network. This can lead to misinterpretations due to the proximity of otherwise unrelated elements.
RESULTS
We propose a new network layout optimization technique called FragViz which can incorporate additional information on relations between unconnected network components. It uses a two-step approach by first arranging the nodes within each of the components and then placing the components so that their proximity in the network corresponds to their relatedness. In the experimental study with the leukemia gene networks we demonstrate that FragViz can obtain network layouts which are more interpretable and hold additional information that could not be exposed using classical network layout optimization algorithms.
CONCLUSIONS
Network visualization relies on computational techniques for proper placement of objects under consideration. These algorithms need to be fast so that they can be incorporated in responsive interfaces required by the explorative data analysis environments. Our layout optimization technique FragViz meets these requirements and specifically addresses the visualization of fragmented networks, for which standard algorithms do not consider similarities between unconnected components. The experiments confirmed the claims on speed and accuracy of the proposed solution
Cheating for Problem Solving: A Genetic Algorithm with Social Interactions
We propose a variation of the standard genetic algorithm that incorporates
social interaction between the individuals in the population. Our goal is to
understand the evolutionary role of social systems and its possible application
as a non-genetic new step in evolutionary algorithms. In biological
populations, ie animals, even human beings and microorganisms, social
interactions often affect the fitness of individuals. It is conceivable that
the perturbation of the fitness via social interactions is an evolutionary
strategy to avoid trapping into local optimum, thus avoiding a fast convergence
of the population. We model the social interactions according to Game Theory.
The population is, therefore, composed by cooperator and defector individuals
whose interactions produce payoffs according to well known game models
(prisoner's dilemma, chicken game, and others). Our results on Knapsack
problems show, for some game models, a significant performance improvement as
compared to a standard genetic algorithm.Comment: 7 pages, 5 Figures, 5 Tables, Proceedings of Genetic and Evolutionary
Computation Conference (GECCO 2009), Montreal, Canad
Defusing Ideological Defenses in Biology
Ideological language is widespread in theoretical biology. Evolutionary game theory has been defended as a worldview and a leap of faith, and sexual selection theory has been criticized for what it posits as basic to biological nature. Views such as these encourage the impression of ideological rifts in the field. I advocate an alternative interpretation, whereby many disagreements between different camps of biologists merely reflect methodological differences. This interpretation provides a more accurate and more optimistic account of the state of play in the field of biology. It also helps account for biologists' tendency to embrace ideological positions
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