Chemical reservoir computation in a self-organizing reaction network.

Abstract

Chemical reaction networks, such as those found in metabolism and signalling pathways, enable cells to process information from their environment^1,2. Current approaches to molecular information processing and computation typically pursue digital computation models and require extensive molecular-level engineering³. Despite considerable advances, these approaches have not reached the level of information processing capabilities seen in living systems. Here we report on the discovery and implementation of a chemical reservoir computer based on the formose reaction⁴. We demonstrate how this complex, self-organizing chemical reaction network can perform several nonlinear classification tasks in parallel, predict the dynamics of other complex systems and achieve time-series forecasting. This in chemico information processing system provides proof of principle for the emergent computational capabilities of complex chemical reaction networks, paving the way for a new class of biomimetic information processing systems.