Hydrogel-based Bio-nanomachine Transmitters for Bacterial Molecular Communications

Abstract

Bacterial quorum sensing can be engineered with a view to the design of biotechnological applications based on their intrinsic role as a means of communication. We propose the creation of a positive feedback loop that will promote the emission of a superfolded green fluorescence protein from a bacterial population that will flow through hydrogel, which is used to encapsulate the cells. These engineered cells are heretofore referred to as bio-nanomachine transmitters and we show that for lower values of diffusion coefficient, a higher molecular output signal power can be produced, which supports the use of engineered bacteria contained within hydrogels for molecular communications systems. In addition, our wet lab results show the propagation of the molecular output signal, proving the feasibility of engineering a positive feedback loop to create a bio-nanomachine transmitter that can be used for biosensing applications.