P systems with symport/antiport : the traces of RBCs

This paper is inspired from two directions: (1) finding out the minimum number of membranes required for proving universality with minimal symport/antiport, and (2) the functionality of red blood corpuscles and how it can be translated in the membrane computing scenario. We are motivated by (2) and try to solve (1) using (2). Red blood corpuscles (RBCs) are the basic elements of all kinds of cells. RBCs are present in all the membranes of mammals. They get replaced periodically. They do not evolve or divide like usual cells; they are just carriers of oxygen and hence are communicating agents in a cell. This being the case, symport/antiport rules are the most suitable control structures to model their activity. We exploit the properties of RBCs in order to impose a natural restriction on the traces of objects; we consider a class of P systems where the objects represent RBCs and symport/antiport rules are used for communication. We prove a universality result with two membranes using symport/antiport rules of weight one, thus giving a solution for the number of membranes required for minimal symport/antiport in the RBC setting