A computation using mutually exclusive processing is sufficient to identify specific Hedgehog signaling components

Abstract

A system of more than one part can be deciphered by observing differences between the parts. A simple way to do this is by recording something absolute displaying a trait in one part and not in another: in other words, mutually exclusive computation. Conditional directed expression in vivo offers processing in more than one part of the system giving increased computation power for biological systems analysis. Here, I report the consideration of these aspects in the development of an in vivo screening assay that appears sufficient to identify components specific to a system.

A Turing Machine for the Life Sciences

“…To clarify what I am trying to ask here: if the context and relationship we have interest in, is the whole organism and a mutually exclusive conditional requirement for specificity, this often being the ultimate aim of many studies, then is there an ethical way to include this in our study at an early stage before clinical trials? Thus, with this question in mind I would like to highlight in this report an example of technology able to achieve this (Spratt, 2013) (Figure 1c). Here I also report the identification, of the putative protein encoding gene CG43658.…”

“…The Fruit fly Drosophila Melanogaster is a powerful cost effective in vivo research tool with a quick generation time and technologies for controlling directed gene expression both endogenous and of exogenously introduced nucleotides (Spratt, 2013), not to mention a possibility to easily inject things (Garen & Gehring, 1972;Zalokar, 1971). Thus, the use of Drosophila as a general tool to assess things in real life is probably unsurpassed compared to the possibilities and practical limitations of other systems.…”

“…In this instance, with respect to testing components in the context including a mutually exclusive relationship this can be modeled by the use of two directed expression drivers describing the pattern of expression of the receptor Patched (Ptc) and the signal Hedgehog (Hh) for the highly conserved and medically relevant Hedgehog signaling -ptc-Gal4 and hh-Gal4, respectively (Figure 1c; Spratt, 2013). Briefly, this method is able to process nucleotides and does so in this instance using RNA interference (RNAi) and describes the context in terms of viability once processed through both parts, i.e it can be said to consider the whole of the system giving an output or result to describe the sum of everything in it absolutely recorded using unambiguous terms: using X for non-viable and O for viable.…”

“…All ptc directed F1 progeny were female so scored O. However, no F2 progeny gives an overall recording of X for the ptc directed part (please refer to Table 1 (Spratt, 2013) describing the program or method for analysis). All hh directed F1 progeny were viable generating F2 adult progeny and an overall O score.…”

“…if a gene of interest, let`s call it x can drive the GAL80 repressor in a global GAL4 background then you can have the tools to direct the expression of things in those cells expressing x i.e. using x-GAL4 and also now have the ability to direct expression everywhere else or NOT x by using x-GAL80; tubulin-GAL4 (Figure 1d; Spratt, 2013). This is how we might envisage that this target and potential therapeutic testing device will evolve, adjustable or tuned both on the level of the inputs and on the level of control according to the directed expression and with a possibility to adjust the background: an imaginable Computer able to search the context for mutually exclusive relationships of interest and use them to identify things with specificity.…”