Transfer functions of proteinoid microspheres

Mougkogiannis, Panagiotis; Phillips, Neil; Adamatzky, Andrew

Abstract

Proteinoids, or thermal proteins, are inorganic entities formed by heating amino acids to their melting point and commencing polymerisation to form polymeric chains. Typically, their diameters range from 1 μm to 10 μm. Some amino acids incorporated into proteinoid chains are more hydrophobic than others, leading proteinoids to cluster together when they are present in aqueous solutions at specific concentrations, allowing them to grow into microspheres. The peculiar structure of proteinoids composed of linked amino acids endows them with unique properties, including action-potential like spiking of electrical potential. These unique properties make ensembles of proteinoid microspheres a promising substrate for designing future artificial brains and unconventional computing devices. To evaluate a potential of proteinoid microspheres for unconventional electronic devices we measure and analyse the data-transfer capacities of proteinoid microspheres. In experimental laboratory conditions we demonstrate that the transfer function of proteinoids microspheres is a nontrivial phenomenon, which might be due to the wide range of proteinoid shapes, sizes, and structures.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 5, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Apr 18, 2023
• Publication Date: May 1, 2023
• Deposit Date: Apr 18, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 18, 2023
• Journal: BioSystems
• Print ISSN: 0303-2647
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 227-228
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystems.2023.104892
• Keywords: Applied Mathematics; General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology; Modeling and Simulation; General Medicine; Statistics and Probability
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10631551
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0303264723000679?via%3Dihub