Logical stochastic resonance with correlated internal and external noises in a synthetic biological logic block

Following the advent of synthetic biology, several gene networks have been engineered to emulate digital devices, with the ability to program cells for different applications. In this work, we adapt the concept of logical stochastic resonance to a synthetic gene network derived from a bacteriophage lambda. The intriguing results of this study show that it is possible to build a biological logic block that can emulate or switch from the AND to the OR gate functionalities through externally tuning the system parameters. Moreover, this behavior and the robustness of the logic gate are underpinned by the presence of an optimal amount of random fluctuations. We extend our earlier work in this field, by taking into account the effects of correlated external (additive) and internal (multiplicative or state-dependent) noise. Results obtained through analytical calculations as well as numerical simulations are presented. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3660159]