Dr. Nakakuki's paper has been accepted for publication in New Generation Computing (IF1.03).

Title.：DNA Concentration Regulator That can be Driven for a Long Time Author.：Takashi Nakakuki, Keiji Murayama & Hiroyuki Asanuma URL：https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00354-022-00173-3

A molecular robot is an autonomous micro/nano machine that mounts a molecular controller connecting the sensor and actuator systems. A major control problem of a molecular robot is to maintain the actuator operation at the desired level. This requires a regulator that adjusts the concentration of a specific DNA strand of a system to the desired level to be appropriately implemented on a chemical reaction system made of molecular interactions among DNA strands. However, although there are several research results on DNA concentration regulators, there is a major problem: the regulators normally work only within a limited period because of the finiteness problem of gate and fuel strands. The operating time of the controller is an important control performance index and is a prerequisite for its practical applications. In this study, the design of a renewable DNA concentration regulator simplified to an experimentally feasible level is proposed, inspired by the previously reported azobenzene-based photo-reaction method used for a renewable PID controller. It is shown that the methodology that timely switches the operation between “regulator mode” and “concentration recovery mode” by light irradiation can serve as a solution for the long-time operation of the DNA concentration regulator. SpringerLink DNA Concentration Regulator That can be Driven for a Long Time New Generation Computing - A molecular robot is an autonomous micro/nano machine that mounts a molecular controller connecting the sensor and actuator systems. A major control problem of a...