Programming the DNA World
Speaker: Prof. Erik Winfree , Caltech, Pasadena,CA
Date: September 16 2004
Time: 4:00PM to 5:00PM
Location: 32-G449 KIVA
Host: Prof. Daniela Rus, CSAIL
Contact: , theresa@csail.mit.edu
Relevant URL: Abstract:
Information and algorithms are of central importance in computer
science, where electrons and silicon store and process bits, and in
biology, where information is stored in molecules and manipulated by
biochemical reactions. Our expertise in programming electronic computers
by far outstrips our ability to program biochemistry, but the ultimate
potential of the latter may be greater. In this talk I will discuss some
of the challenges to programming molecular systems. Nucleic acids (RNA
and DNA) provide an excellent case study because the logic of their
chemistry is reasonably predictable, and yet they are capable of an
enormous diversity of function -- indeed, the RNA World hypothesis
postulates that RNA, not proteins, once carried out all essential life
processes. I will illustrate how DNA can be programmed for a variety of
tasks, primarily drawing on my work in algorithmic self-assembly, and try
to make the case that a rich "DNA World" is within the reach of
engineering today.
Bio:
Erik Winfree is an Assistant Professor in Computer Science and Computation
and Neural Systems at Caltech. His research concerns the theory and
engineering of autonomous biochemical algorithms using in vitro systems of
DNA and enzymes, including programmable DNA self-assembly, DNA and RNA
conformational switches and devices, and RNA transcriptional circuits.
Such systems are envisioned as embedded information-processing and control
for bottom-up nanofabrication, nanorobotics, biochemical diagnostics, and other
biochemical processes. Winfree is the recipient of numerous awards, including the NSF
PECASE/CAREER Award (2001), the ONR Young Investigators
Award (2001), a MacArthur Fellowship (2000), and MIT Technology Review's
first TR100 list of "top young innovators" (1999). Prior to joining the
faculty at Caltech in 1999, Winfree was a Lewis Thomas Postdoctoral Fellow
in Molecular Biology at Princeton, and a Visiting Scientist at the MIT AI Lab. Winfree
received a B.S. in mathematics and computer science from the University of Chicago in 1991,
and a Ph.D. in computation and neural systems from Caltech in 1998.
See other events that are part of AI Colloquium Series 2004/2005
See other events happening in September 2004
