Molecular Communication Technology as a Biological ICT

This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of state-of-the art research on molecular communication—a molecule-based communication paradigm for biological machines. Unlike current telecommunications based on electric or optical signals, molecular communication exploits biological molecules as information carriers. In molecular communication, senders of communication encode information onto molecules and transmit to the environment. The information coded molecules then propagate in the environment to reach receivers of communication, which capture and biochemically react to the molecules (i.e., decode the information from the information coded molecules). Since biological molecules are compatible with biological systems, molecular communication is expected to impact medical domains such as human health monitoring where implant biological machines interact with biological cells through molecular communication. This chapter describes key concepts, architecture, potential applications of molecular communication as well as existing research on engineering molecular communication components and systems.