Team:Melbourne/Overview

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We want to build a biological clock that can count up when it is "ticked" by input light pulse signals. As the signal "ticks" the clock, the clock changes color and observer can use the color or combination of colors to tell what "time" it is.

There are two types of clocks proposed by our team.

The first type is a Binary Clock. In the Binary Clock, there are identical units (in fact not totally identical but almost) which are connected in series to make the entire clock. We call each unit a bit-unit. Each bit-unit can be turned on and off by its input signal and give its output as the input signal for the next bit in the series. So for example

The . The ultimate goal of this idea is to construct a biological production line of which the system can keep track on what metabolites are present and what are being produced. The reason for favouring a binary model is that the multiplicity of the binary version is double than a linear one. However, through many attempts of constructing a biologically practical and feasible pathway for the binary version, it was realised that parts within each counting bit had to be unique, therefore posed a great limitation on the feasibility of the version. As thus, we turned our attention on developing a linear model of which the parts are interchangable with the binary model, so when a solution is found, we can resume the development of the binary model.

This wiki details the development procedures of both the binary and linear models. It includes the designed pathways which integrate several team members' ideas; mathematical modellings and laboratory works that were done on developing the physical model of the bioclock.