Membrane Proteins as Maxwell’s Demons and Their Significance for P Systems

Abstract

The aim of these notes is to contribute to the dialog between P systems and Biological Sciences focussing on membrane proteins involved either in iron transport inside the bacterial cells or in elimination outside the bacterial cells of substances which are dangerous for the cell. The ability of these membrane proteins to behave as Maxwell’s demon, gate keeper, or as “a being who can see the individual molecules” could be important for P systems as examples of discrete processes which could be modeled by discrete mathematics and as real molecular objects for in vitro implementation of P systems.