Slime Mold Team 1 Project Report

The Physarum Polycephalum, or true slime mold, is a large multi-nuclear cell which uses a network of tube-like structures called pseudopodia to connect food sources and ensure its survival. Much study has been done on the behavior and formation of the pseudopodia, with a special focus on the tendency to choose an efficient path between the food sources [1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13]. When food is placed upon the slime mold, the organism will begin to send waves caused by biochemical oscillators throughout its plasmodium [4, 9, 10]. Through this process, pseudopodia perpendicular to the waves decay; those parallel are reinforced. It is believed that these biochemical waves play an integral part in the creation of an efficient path [9]. The exact connection, however, between the behavior and the biology of the Physarum Polycephalum is still unclear