Chapter 5 - Robust Design for Evolutionary Synthetic Gene Networks Under Genetic Mutations and Environmental Disturbances: Genetic Algorithm (GA) Approach in Genotype Space

Abstract

This chapter presents a unifying mathematical framework for investigating the principles of both robust stabilization and environmental disturbance attenuation for evolutionary synthetic gene networks in synthetic biology. Further, from the unifying mathematical framework, we found that the phenotype robustness criterion for synthetic gene networks is that if intrinsic robustness + genetic robustness + environmental robustness ≦ network robustness, then the phenotype robustness can be maintained in spite of intrinsic parameter fluctuations, genetic variations, and environmental disturbances. Therefore, the tradeoffs between intrinsic robustness, genetic robustness, environmental robustness, and network robustness in synthetic biology can also be investigated through the corresponding phenotype robustness criterion from the systematic point of view. Finally, to mimic the natural evolutionary scheme to find the fittest phenotype of a biological system by natural selection, a robust synthetic design that involves network evolution algorithms (EA) based on a genetic algorithm (GA) to achieve a desired behavior under intrinsic parameter fluctuations, genetic variations, and environmental disturbances is also proposed with a simulation example.