Pattern Formation and Computation by Autonomous Chemical Reaction Diffusion Model Inspired by Cellular Automata

We introduce two autonomous chemical reaction-diffusion models that can emulate the behavior of specific cellular automata. One model conducts formation of a 3-color checker-board pattern using an abstract chemical reaction network. The other model is based on a DNA reaction-diffusion system that is capable of emulating a Turing-complete one-dimensional cellular automaton. These frameworks can be used to systematically program spatiotemporal pattern formation, and thus has a potential for an effective macro-scale control of molecular systems.