Efficiency of Energy Exchange Strategies in Model Bacteriabot Populations

Micro/nanorobotics is becoming part of the future of medicine. One of the most efficient approaches to the construction of small medical robots is to base them on unicellular organisms. This approach inherently allows for obtaining complex capabilities, such as motility or environmental resistance....

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Main Authors: Evgeny Ivanko, Andrey Popel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-11-01
Series:Micro
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8023/4/4/42
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author Evgeny Ivanko
Andrey Popel
author_facet Evgeny Ivanko
Andrey Popel
author_sort Evgeny Ivanko
collection DOAJ
description Micro/nanorobotics is becoming part of the future of medicine. One of the most efficient approaches to the construction of small medical robots is to base them on unicellular organisms. This approach inherently allows for obtaining complex capabilities, such as motility or environmental resistance. Single-celled organisms usually live in groups and are known to interact in many ways (matter, energy, and information), paving the way for potentially beneficial emergent effects. One such naturally expected effect is an increase in the sustainability of a population as a result of a more even redistribution of energy within the population. Our in silico experiments show that under harsh conditions, such as resource scarcity and a rapidly changing environment, altruistic energy exchange (supplying energy to weaker agents) can indeed markedly increase the sustainability of model bacteriabot groups, potentially increasing the efficiency of treatment. Although our work is limited exclusively to the development and use of a phenomenological computer model, we consider our results to be an important argument in favor of practical efforts aimed at implementing altruistic energy exchange strategies in real swarms of single-cell medical robots.
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spelling doaj-art-93c37041f8c143e49b52b743eaa88e7f2024-12-27T14:40:20ZengMDPI AGMicro2673-80232024-11-014468270510.3390/micro4040042Efficiency of Energy Exchange Strategies in Model Bacteriabot PopulationsEvgeny Ivanko0Andrey Popel1Institute of Mathematics and Mechanics, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yekaterinburg 620108, RussiaInstitute of Mathematics and Mechanics, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yekaterinburg 620108, RussiaMicro/nanorobotics is becoming part of the future of medicine. One of the most efficient approaches to the construction of small medical robots is to base them on unicellular organisms. This approach inherently allows for obtaining complex capabilities, such as motility or environmental resistance. Single-celled organisms usually live in groups and are known to interact in many ways (matter, energy, and information), paving the way for potentially beneficial emergent effects. One such naturally expected effect is an increase in the sustainability of a population as a result of a more even redistribution of energy within the population. Our in silico experiments show that under harsh conditions, such as resource scarcity and a rapidly changing environment, altruistic energy exchange (supplying energy to weaker agents) can indeed markedly increase the sustainability of model bacteriabot groups, potentially increasing the efficiency of treatment. Although our work is limited exclusively to the development and use of a phenomenological computer model, we consider our results to be an important argument in favor of practical efforts aimed at implementing altruistic energy exchange strategies in real swarms of single-cell medical robots.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8023/4/4/42nano/micromedicinenano/microrobotbacteriabottrophallaxisaltruistic energy exchangesurvival rate
spellingShingle Evgeny Ivanko
Andrey Popel
Efficiency of Energy Exchange Strategies in Model Bacteriabot Populations
Micro
nano/micromedicine
nano/microrobot
bacteriabot
trophallaxis
altruistic energy exchange
survival rate
title Efficiency of Energy Exchange Strategies in Model Bacteriabot Populations
title_full Efficiency of Energy Exchange Strategies in Model Bacteriabot Populations
title_fullStr Efficiency of Energy Exchange Strategies in Model Bacteriabot Populations
title_full_unstemmed Efficiency of Energy Exchange Strategies in Model Bacteriabot Populations
title_short Efficiency of Energy Exchange Strategies in Model Bacteriabot Populations
title_sort efficiency of energy exchange strategies in model bacteriabot populations
topic nano/micromedicine
nano/microrobot
bacteriabot
trophallaxis
altruistic energy exchange
survival rate
url https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8023/4/4/42
work_keys_str_mv AT evgenyivanko efficiencyofenergyexchangestrategiesinmodelbacteriabotpopulations
AT andreypopel efficiencyofenergyexchangestrategiesinmodelbacteriabotpopulations