Electronic Design of Synthetic Genetic Networks

We propose the use of nonlinear electronic circuits to study synthetic gene regulation networks. Specifically, we have designed two electronic versions of a synthetic genetic clock, known as the “repressilator,” making use of appropriate electronic elements linked in the same way as the original biochemical system. We study the effects of coupling in a population of electronic repressilators, with the aim of observing coherent oscillations of the whole population. With these results, we show that this kind of nonlinear circuits can be helpful in the design and understanding of synthetic genetic networks.