Are There Biomimetic Lessons from Genetic Regulatory Networks for Developing a Lunar Industrial Ecology?

Ellery, Alex

doi:10.3390/biomimetics6030050

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 184 publications

(188 reference statements)

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“…The adoption of just-in-time protocols minimizes the requirement for warehousing while six sigma protocols with process recycling impose high-quality control standards. We have been exploring the use of genetic regulatory network approaches to controlling the industrial ecology (Ellery, 2021 d ). Onboard repair (such as wardens on the Daedalus starship) requires 3D printing (and supporting FabLab) facilities as a subset of self-replication – self-replication capability automatically incorporates self-repair implementing high reliability for free.…”

Section: Terran Self-replicating Probe Payloadmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-replicating probes are imminent – implications for SETI

Ellery

2022

International Journal of Astrobiology

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In the early 1980s, the Sagan-Tipler debate raged regarding the interpretation of the Fermi paradox but no clear winner emerged. Sagan favoured the existence of ETI on the basis of the Copernican principle and Tipler favoured the non-existence of ETI on the basis of the Occam's razor principle. Tipler's stance was an expansion of the similar but earlier Hart declaration. However, crucial to the Tipler argument was the role played by self-replicating interstellar robot probes. Any technologically capable species will develop self-replication technology as the most economical means of exploring space and the Galaxy as a whole with minimal investment. There is no evidence of such probes in our solar system including the asteroid belt, ergo, ETI do not exist. This is a powerful and cogent argument. Counter-arguments have been weak including Sagan's sociological explanations. We present a Copernican argument that ETI do not exist – humans are developing self-replication technology today. We are developing the ability to 3D print entire robotic machines from extraterrestrial resources including electric motors and electronics as part of a general in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) capability. We have 3D-printed electric motors which can be potentially leveraged from extraterrestrial material that should be available in every star system. From a similar range of materials, we have identified a means to 3D print neural network circuitry. From our industrial ecology, self-replicating machines and indeed universal constructors are feasible. We describe in some detail how a self-replicating interstellar spacecraft may be constricted from asteroidal resources. We describe technological signatures of the processing of asteroidal material (which is expected to be common to most star systems), and the excess production of certain types of clay and other detritus materials. Self-replication technology is under development and imminent – if humans are pursuing self-replication technology, then by the Copernican principle, so would any technologically savvy species elsewhere. There is no evidence that they have.

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Section: Terran Self-replicating Probe Payloadmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-replicating probes are imminent – implications for SETI

Ellery

2022

International Journal of Astrobiology

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“…We have yet to 3D print active computational devices but this activity is ongoing (Prasad and Ellery, 2020). We have explored the possibility of a bio-inspired control architecture for the industrial ecology based on genetic regulatory networks (Ellery, 2021). The self-replicating machine has high utility by virtue of its universal construction properties and its productive capacity for exponential growth which suggest inevitability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Curbing the fruitfulness of self-replicating machines

Ellery

2022

International Journal of Astrobiology

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The self-replicating machine has high utility by virtue of its universal construction properties and its productive capacity for exponential growth. Their capacity is unrivalled. They can be deployed to the Moon to industrialize it using local in-situ resources in the short term to open up the solar system and thence deployed on interstellar spacecraft to explore the entire Galaxy by exploiting in-situ stellar system resources. Nevertheless, there are significant concerns regarding the inherent safety of self-replicating machines. We consider the general problem of runaway population growth in physical self-replicating machines to prevent the grey goo problem, the number of offspring spawned by self-replicating machines may be controlled at a genetic level. We adopt a biologically-inspired approach based on telomeres, DNA endcaps that are progressively shortened during cellular replication. This acts as a counter that imposes a limit to the number of replication cycles (Hayflick limit). By examining the biological process in detail, we can obtain some insights in implementing similar mechanisms in self-replicating machines. In particular, we find that counting mechanisms are vulnerable to cancerous runaway.

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Biomimetic Regulation in Supply Chains and Production Systems

Thielen,

Trube,

Schneider

et al. 2024

Advanced Intelligent Systems

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The production industry is challenged to become more flexible and efficient while coping with a variety of disruptive events, such as natural disasters, infrastructure blockages, or economic crises. From the individual station on a production line to the global supply chain, everything is connected, making regulation and control a complex task. Biological molecular processes, such as the metabolism of living organisms or the cell cycle, are also extremely complex processes that can be compared to industrial production processes, both of which involve a series of intermediate steps and products. Thanks to (self‐)regulatory mechanisms that have evolved over time, these biological mechanisms are very efficient and robust in the face of perturbations. This article proposes an explanatory representation of these complex processes, considering both biological and technical aspects. The aim is to facilitate biomimetic transfer of biological regulation mechanisms into the technical domain. It presents concepts for biomimetic regulation of production lines and sourcing strategies and introduces a workflow for generating digital twins. This workflow is inspired by the cell cycle checkpoints, which ensure that only perfect copies of DNA are passed on during cell replication. By leveraging this understanding, the production industry can potentially improve its own processes and efficiency.

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Are There Biomimetic Lessons from Genetic Regulatory Networks for Developing a Lunar Industrial Ecology?

Cited by 5 publications

References 184 publications

Self-replicating probes are imminent – implications for SETI

Self-replicating probes are imminent – implications for SETI

Curbing the fruitfulness of self-replicating machines

Biomimetic Regulation in Supply Chains and Production Systems

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