On length-separating test tube systems

In this article we introduce a new variant of test tube systems based on splicing where the communication of the words among the test tubes is based on filtering by their lengths. The model, called length-separating test tube systems, is motivated by the gel electrophoresis laboratory technique. We prove that these constructs, even with restricted size parameters, simulate the Turing machines. We also discuss some natural restrictions and generalizations of the model, which may be used to find efficient ways to realize DNA transformations in the laboratory.