The cell cycle is the process by which eukaryotic cells replicate. Yeast cells cycle asynchronously with each cell in the population budding at a different time. Although there are several experimental approaches to "synchronise" cells, these work only in the short-term. Here, we built a cyber-genetic system to achieve long-term synchronisation of the cell population, by interfacing genetically modified yeast cells with a computer by means of microfluidics to dynamically change medium, and a microscope to estimate cell cycle phases of individual cells. The computer implements a "controller" algorithm to decide when, and for how long, to change the growth medium to synchronise the cell-cycle across the population. Our work builds upon solid theoretical foundations provided by Control Engineering. In addition to providing a new avenue for yeast cell cycle synchronisation, our work shows that computers can automatically steer complex biological processes towards desired behaviours similarly to what is currently done with robots and autonomous vehicles.

中文翻译：

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Cyber​​-Yeast：通过闭环反馈控制自动同步发芽酵母中的细胞周期

细胞周期是真核细胞复制的过程。酵母细胞异步循环，种群中的每个细胞在不同的时间萌芽。尽管有几种“同步”细胞的实验方法，但这些方法仅在短期内有效。在这里，我们建立了一个计算机遗传系统，以实现转基因酵母细胞与计算机的连接，该系统通过微流控技术动态改变培养基，并通过显微镜估计单个细胞的细胞周期相位，从而实现了转基因酵母细胞的长期同步。该计算机实施“控制器”算法，以决定何时以及多长时间更改生长培养基，以同步整个种群的细胞周期。我们的工作建立在控制工程学提供的扎实理论基础之上。