Homepage » Computational power of cells » Living cells measure chemical concentrations of signalling molecules via receptor proteins on their surface that bind the signalling molecules. The signal is transmitted into the cell by copying the binding state of the receptor (the data bit; 0: no ligand bound; 1: ligand bound) into the phosphorylation state of a downstream messenger protein (the memory bit; 0: unphosphorylated; 1: phosphorylated). Ouldridge and Ten Wolde have shown that this cellular copy operation can be rigorously mapped onto a computational copy operation, as occurring in our electronic computers.

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Living cells measure chemical concentrations of signalling molecules via receptor proteins on their surface that bind the signalling molecules. The signal is transmitted into the cell by copying the binding state of the receptor (the data bit; 0: no ligand bound; 1: ligand bound) into the phosphorylation state of a downstream messenger protein (the memory bit; 0: unphosphorylated; 1: phosphorylated). Ouldridge and Ten Wolde have shown that this cellular copy operation can be rigorously mapped onto a computational copy operation, as occurring in our electronic computers.