The space of bio-inspired hardware can be partitioned along three axes: phylogeny, ontogeny, and epigenesis. We refer to this as the POE model. Our Embryonics (for embryonic electronics) project is situated along the ontogenetic axis of the POE model and is inspired by the processes of molecular biology and by the embryonic development of living beings. We will describe the architecture of mult...

A substantial proportion of the architecture of the plant cell wall remains unknown with a few cell wall models being proposed. Moreover, even less is known about the green algal cell wall. Techniques that allow direct visualization of the cell wall in as near to its native state are of importance in unravelling the spatial arrangement of cell wall structures and hence in the development of cel...

Whereas the morphogenesis of developing organisms is relatively well understood at the molecular level, the contribution of the mechanical properties of the cells to shape changes remains largely unknown, mainly because of the lack of quantified biophysical parameters at cellular or subcellular resolution. Here we designed an atomic force microscopy approach to investigate the elastic modulus o...

The Embryonics project is inspired by some of the basic processes of molecular biology, such as the embryonic development of living beings. Transposing these processes in to digital electronic integrated circuits, we design artificial organisms endowed with properties typical of to the living world, such as self-repair and self-healing. In order to illustrate the original features of the Embryo...

The Embryonics project is inspired by some of the basic processes of molecular biology, such as the embryonic development of living beings. Transposing these processes into digital electronic integrated circuits, we design artificial organisms endowed with properties typical of to the living world, such as self-repair and self-healing. In order to illustrate the original features of the Embryon...

As explained in biochemistry or cell biology textbooks, all living cells are surrounded by a cytoplasmic (or plasma) membrane, containing phospholipids, proteins and other components that can be characteristic of the type of cell or organism. Sometimes, a more rigid, net-like cell wall constitutes an additional protective layer and lies outside the cytoplasmic membrane, for examples, peptidogly...