To
give the team some indication of the expected behaviour of our
completed systems, a simulation environment was made to allow the
models to interact with each other. More details of the simulation
source code are to be released at a later date. The program is written
in Tcl [link http://wiki.tcl.tk/] and is designed to be easily modified
to model any system involving several cells interacting with each other
through the diffusion of chemical species.
The results of an initial simulation of our Game of Life system are
presented below.
The animation above shows an initial drop of IPTG being added to the
system that activates the cells in its immediate vicinity. Note that
the IPTG does not diffuse throughout the system, not causing any
effects other than the initial ‘jump start’.
This animation shows the activated cells producing LuxI which then
diffuses to the rest of the system, activating further cells.
The final animation models the actual bacteria, randomly distributed
throughout the system. Blue for those in the 'off' state and red for
those in the 'on' state.
An IPTG local density of 250 is required to switch a cell to
it's 'on' state. 'On' cells produce LuxI, turning on other cells when
the local density of LuxI is greater than 50. When the local density of
LuxI is greater than 300, the cell switches to the 'off' state,
producing the characteristic ring. Note, all of the values above are
arbitrary values and will be translated to molecule counts when
empirical results are available.
The figure below shows all three layers together, allowing easy
comparison. To view the animations again, refresh this page.