Bacterial self-organisation and computation

Amos, Martyn, Hodgson, David A. and Gibbons, Alan (2007) Bacterial self-organisation and computation. International journal of unconventional computing, 3 (3). pp. 199-210. ISSN 1548-7202

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Abstract

Bacterial colonies are able to detect and react to changes in their environment. The distributed self-organisation of large numbers of bacteria into well-defined spatial structures is a form of computation that is deserving of further attention. In this paper we review how one particular collective response – bacterial chemotaxis – has been modelled in silico to generate novel algorithms. We describe how such models may be further extended for the purposes of directed pattern-formation in bacteria, and conclude with a discussion of some fundamental questions that we aim to address with this approach.