With the ability to create a virtual reality by computer simulation, a mixed-reality era is coming! In this project, we are working on creating a new kind of life form, mixed-reality cells (MR. Cell), which are half-real and half-virtual.
To demonstrate our idea, a genetic oscillator was built in E. coli as the real part and an e-oscillator was simulated in a computer as the virtual part. The two parts could interact with each other through an interface
device composed of microfluidic chip and chemical/optical modulator. At the beginning, the two oscillators work independently in a dual-reality state. With their interaction, they would gradually adjust to each other without
human interference to a strongly coupled and synchronized mixed-reality state. A prototype of MR. Cell was demonstrated in this project which has great potential in a wide range of the future biological research.