Before revision: Some species of bacteria exhibit quorum sensing, a phenomenon in which gene expression and resultant behavior undergo a phase change at some threshold population density. We show here that even very simple nanodevices , modeled as chemical reaction networks, can by a different mechanism also sense their own population densities and change their behaviors dramatically at certain thresholds.
After revision: We show that very simple molecular systems , modeled as chemical reaction networks, can by a different mechanism also sense their own population densities and change their behaviors dramatically at certain thresholds.