Keele Research Repository

Understanding the dynamics of molecular communications between cells and intracellular response is crucial to create predictable cellular applications. When the propagation mechanism is diffusion based, the arrival histogram of molecules becomes heavy tailed and the stray molecules create interference for the following symbol slots. Here, we present a model-based framework to design diffusion-based systems using computer simulations. To overcome interference problems, we utilize two different signals with two different molecule types to carry a single bit of data. While the first signal is the actual data carrier, the latter acts as an antagonist to cancel out the heavy tail of the former signal. At the receiver side, these signals are used to control cellular behaviour via a synthetic genetic circuit, which eliminates the effect of stray molecules. This holistic and model-driven design approach combines both intracellular and intercellular dynamics to create novel applications.