Movable Finite Automata (MFA) models for biological systems. I: Bacteriophage assembly and operation.

A new class of models, called Movable Finite Automata (MFA) models, is introduced. MFA models are physically realistic, but still share some of the features of cellular automata that make the latter easy to handle mathematically and computationally. They are found to be quite versatile in modeling the self-organization of biological systems. Their use in simulating the interaction of protein molecules in the self-assembly and operation of the T4 bacteriophage is described. The results of these simulations carried out on a microcomputer, are given.

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