Code center > Specialization, Metabolism, Digestions and Env Grid

Built-in Enzyme Regulation

(1/4) > >>

Numsgil:
So far all I can find is allosteric regulation, but there are others.  Here's a way to introduce enzyme regulation to the enzymes themselves.  Any system that works like this should be overridable by the DNA for a certain nominal cost.

All enzyme complexes are built of activation sites.  We already (hopefully) understand how this works.  On top of this, we can add regulatory sites.  These are part of the enzyme complex in exactly the same way activation sites are, as bit patterns.

However, for this one the bit pattern has some extras.  One each side of it the 3 bits that used to code for efficiency now code for threshold values.  If the amount of stuff in the cell is above or below (I'm not sure yet) this threshold it turns the enzyme complex off.

I'm still working on the details of how it would work, but this is the skeleton of it.  This would help remove some regulation from the DNA when the DNA doesn't want to bother.

shvarz:
This is a good idea.  The range should be very broad, though...


You know, with all these patterns for enzymes...  Maybe we can organize it logically and linearly.  Like this:

first N bits define molecule on which enzyme works
next N bits refer to a particular reaction that molecule is involved in
next N bits refer to threshhold shutdown

Numsgil:
That's possible, but it makes the enzymes very linear.  I was hoping to keep it as much like a string of amino acids as possible.  Some spots have Junk DNA, there really isn't an up or down, etc.  Whatever you happen to find in the string of bits is what the enzyme does.

Like someone giving you a box of junk and saying 'make something'.  A more linear system would mean that you have 'here's a part, it has to be used for X'.

shvarz:
No-no, still same system, just more organized.  You were proposing to assign random sequences of bits to individual enzymes and I am saying let's have some kind of system.  It would still be a string of bits, just the activation sequences would be organized.  And it actually makes more sense, because that way an enzyme converting A>B has a higher probability to mutate into enzyme that converts A>C than into some random enzyme X>Z.

Numsgil:
Okay, I see what you're getting at.  Not a bad idea.

The only problem is that if I define the molecule on which the enzyme works as citric acid, and I define the reaction as glycolisis, that's rather silly, isn't it?  You just need one bit pattern that defines the substrates and reaction that takes place.

Other than that I think it would work well.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page