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Relating Boolean Gate Truth Tables to One-Way Functions
In this paper, the authors present a schema to build one way functions from a family of Boolean gates. Moreover, the authors relate characteristics of these Boolean gate truth tables to properties of the derived one-way functions.
Developing a Generalizable Two-Input Genetic AND Logic Gate in Arabidopsis thaliana for Multi-Signal Processing
With effective engineering using synthetic biology approaches, plant-based platforms could conceivably be designed to minimize the production costs and wastes of high-value products such as medicines, biofuels, and chemical feedstocks that would otherwise be uneconomical. Additionally, modern agricultural crops could be engineered to be more productive, resilient, or restorative in different or rapidly changing environments and climates. To achieve these complex goals, information-processing genetic devices and circuits containing multiple interacting parts that behave predictably must be developed. A genetic Boolean AND logic gate is a device that computes the presence or absence of two inputs (signals, stimuli) and produces an output (response) only if both inputs are present. Here, we optimized individual genetic components and used synthetic protein heterodimerizing domains to rationally assemble genetic AND logic gates that integrate two hormonal inputs in whole plants. These AND gates produce an output only in the presence of both abscisic acid and auxin, but not when either or neither hormone is present. Furthermore, we demonstrate the AND gate can also integrate two plant stresses, cold temperature and bacterial infection, to produce a specific response. The design principles used here are generalizable, and therefore multiple orthogonal AND gates could be assembled and rationally layered to process complex genetic information in plants. In addition to bioproduction, these layered logic gates may also be used in circuits to probe fundamental questions in plant biology such as hormonal crosstalk.
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