Predicting the synchronization of a network of electronic repressilators

Abstract

Synchronization of coupled oscillators is by now a very well studied subject. A large number of analytical and computational tools are available for the treatment of experimental results. This article focuses on a method recently proposed to construct a phase model from experimental data. The advantage of this method is that it extracts a phase model in a noninvasive manner without any prior knowledge of the experimental system. The aim of the present research is to apply this methodology to a network of electronic genetic oscillators. These electronic circuits mimic the dynamics of a synthetic genetic oscillator, called "repressilator", which is capable of synthesizing autonomous biological rhythms. The obtained phase model is shown to be capable of recovering the route leading to synchronization of genetic oscillators. The predicted onset point of synchronization agrees quite well with the experiment. This encourages further application of the present method to synthetic biological systems