  We show that logic computational circuits in gene regulatory networks arise
from a fibration symmetry breaking in the network structure. From this idea we
implement a constructive procedure that reveals a hierarchy of genetic
circuits, ubiquitous across species, that are surprising analogues to the
emblematic circuits of solid-state electronics: starting from the transistor
and progressing to ring oscillators, current-mirror circuits to toggle switches
and flip-flops. These canonical variants serve fundamental operations of
synchronization and clocks (in their symmetric states) and memory storage (in
their broken symmetry states). These conclusions introduce a theoretically
principled strategy to search for computational building blocks in biological
networks, and present a systematic route to design synthetic biological
circuits.
