Computing with proteionids
Lead Research Organisation:
University of the West of England
Department Name: Faculty of Environment and Technology
Abstract
The resources and methodologies used to manufacture electronic devices raise urgent questions about the negative environmental impacts of the manufacture, use, and disposal of electronic devices. The use of organic materials to build electronic devices may offer an eco-friendly and affordable approach to growing our electronic world. New organic computing substrates might create novel properties impossible to replicate with silicon, expanding the world of computing and electronics in ways unimaginable until now. The sister field of organic electronics is the unconventional computing which uncovers novel principles of efficient information processing and computation in physical, chemical and biological systems, to develop novel computing substrates, algorithms and architectures. We will hybridise the unconventional computing and organic electronics to design and prototype a unique micro-scale protoneuromorphic network made of hollow protein microspheres. The network processes information analogous to ensembles of coupled oscillators.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Andrew Adamatzky (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Mougkogiannis P
(2023)
Learning in ensembles of proteinoid microspheres
Mougkogiannis P
(2023)
Low frequency electrical waves in ensembles of proteinoid microspheres
Mougkogiannis P
(2023)
Electrical spiking activity of proteinoids-ZnO colloids
Mougkogiannis P
(2023)
Proteinoid Microspheres as Protoneural Networks
in ACS Omega
Mougkogiannis P
(2023)
Spiking frequency modulation of proteinoids with light and realisation of Boolean gates
Mougkogiannis P
(2023)
Transfer functions of proteinoid microspheres.
in Bio Systems
Mougkogiannis P
(2023)
Light induced spiking of proteinoids
Mougkogiannis P
(2023)
Morphologies of Proteinoids
Mougkogiannis P
(2023)
Low frequency electrical waves in ensembles of proteinoid microspheres.
in Scientific reports
Mougkogiannis P
(2023)
Logical gates in ensembles of proteinoid microspheres
| Title | Experimental setup of recording electrical activity of proteinoid microspheres ensembles |
| Description | Proteinoids (thermal proteins) are produced by heating amino acids to their melting point and initiation of polymerisation to produce polymeric chains. Amino acid-like molecules, or proteinoids, can condense at high temperatures to create aggregation structures called proteinoid microspheres, which have been reported to exhibit strong electrical oscillations. When the amino acids L-glutamic acid (L-Glu) and L-aspartic acid (L-Asp) were combined with electric fields of varying frequencies and intensities, electrical activity resulted. We recorded electrical activity of the proteinoid microspheres' ensembles via a pair of differential electrodes. This is analogous to extracellular recording in physiology or EEG in neuroscience but at micro-level. We discovered that the ensembles produce spikes of electrical potential, an average duration of each spike is 26 min and average amplitude is 1 mV. The spikes are typically grouped in trains of two spikes. The electrical activity of the ensembles can be tuned by external stimulation because ensembles of proteinoid microspheres can generate and propagate electrical activity when exposed to electric fields. |
| Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Proteinoids (thermal proteins) are produced by heating amino acids to their melting point and initiation of polymerisation to produce polymeric chains. Amino acid-like molecules, or proteinoids, can condense at high temperatures to create aggregation structures called proteinoid microspheres, which have been reported to exhibit strong electrical oscillations. When the amino acids L-glutamic acid (L-Glu) and L-aspartic acid (L-Asp) were combined with electric fields of varying frequencies and intensities, electrical activity resulted. We recorded electrical activity of the proteinoid microspheres' ensembles via a pair of differential electrodes. This is analogous to extracellular recording in physiology or EEG in neuroscience but at micro-level. We discovered that the ensembles produce spikes of electrical potential, an average duration of each spike is 26 min and average amplitude is 1 mV. The spikes are typically grouped in trains of two spikes. The electrical activity of the ensembles can be tuned by external stimulation because ensembles of proteinoid microspheres can generate and propagate electrical activity when exposed to electric fields. |