Modeling Protein Synthesis and DNA Mutations using Finite State Machines

In molecular biology, protein is the most significant product of the gene expression process, which is generated by utilizing the genetic information of the DNA molecules. Based on the Central Dogma of molecular biology, proteins are synthesized by first transcribing a DNA gene, which produces mRNA molecules. This mRNA is then translated to produce the desired protein product. Finite state machine (FSM) is a distinguishable tool for modeling discrete event systems. In this paper, we introduce an FSM model for protein synthesis. We further incorporate a mechanism for mutation analysis to our FSM model that helps in determining effects on protein synthesis. The proposed model has been validated by feeding the FSM model with DNA strands. Results have shown and proven that the model mimics and produces protein products as described by the steps of Central Dogma. Furthermore, the FSM model succeeds in discovering gene mutations and consequently determining mutation type.