Blog: The Power of Plant Clock Computing

The Power of Plant Clock Computing
Technology Review (03/01/10)

Research into the use of process algebra to model the circadian rhythm in plants might yield computing efficiency that is several orders of magnitude greater than that of silicon-based computation. Conventional computational techniques are ill-suited for modeling a plant's biological processes because the processes do not involve independent sequential steps. However, University of Edinburgh researcher Ozgur Akman and colleagues used Bio-PEPA process algebra to simulate the circadian rhythm of the green alga Ostreococcus tauri. Bio-PEPA was used to produce a model of the various feedback loops in the alga's clock, and to investigate the clock's reaction to factors such as shifts in light patterns and genetic mutations. The plant clock model has been used to make some projections about the behavior of actual Ostreococcus populations. Process algebra features a property that is frequently neglected--the fact that it is not equivalent to a standard sequential Turing machine.

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