Future
Application to Synthetic Biology
We believe that tunable DNA oscillation circuits modified with amino acids are important in synthetic biology, which aims for the realization of artificial living systems. The reason is that achieving concentration oscillations with various periods leads to the ability to replicate diverse metabolic reactions that occur at different time intervals. One of the metabolic reactions is the 24-hour periodic oscillation of intracellular calcium concentration.
If we can replicate this reaction, we will be able to tune phenomena like water balance and metabolic control to a natural timescale linked to the body's rhythm, potentially allowing for the efficient and sustained realization of authentic physiological responses in artificial tissues and bio-devices.
References
[1] Predator-Prey Molecular Ecosystems, https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ja208633r
[2] Ikeda, M., Sugiyama, T., Wallace, C. S., Gompf, H. S., Yoshioka, T., Miyawaki, A., & Allen, C. N. (2003). Circadian dynamics of cytosolic and nuclear Ca²⁺ in single suprachiasmatic nucleus neurons. Neuron, 38(2), 253-263. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0896-6273(03)00164-8