ColloquiaKlaus-Peter Zauner - Wednesday, June 6

[Marge Ishmael]

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

Wednesday, June 6 - 2:30 p.m. in Ryerson 251

Klaus-Peter Zauner, BioComputing Group, Wayne State University

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Biomolecular Computing: A Conformation-based Approach

Nature's information "technology" is crucial for establishing and
maintaining the intricate organization of living matter.  Consequently,
biological systems that succeed in the existential game of life are
virtuosi of information processing.  They elicit these enviable computing
abilities from macromolecular architectures.  The nascent field of
biomolecular computing aims at elucidating the mechanisms at the basis of
biological computation and exploiting these mechanisms in fundamentally
new computing devices.

I will outline the field of molecular computing, briefly highlight
pertinent molecular properties, and then focus on the potential role of
protein conformational dynamics in patter processing networks.  My
research in this area spans simulation experiments on abstract enzyme
networks, a prototype implementation of a signal processor based on the
enzyme malate dehydrogenase, and first steps toward the evolutionary
adaptation of enzymatic signal processors.
www.cs.wayne.edu/~kjz/

*The talk will be followed by refreshments in Ryerson 255*
If you would like to meet the speaker, please send e-mail to 
marge at cs.uchicago.edu
Persons with disabilities who may need assistance, please call 773.834.8977
-- 
Margery Ishmael
Department of Computer Science
The University of Chicago
1100 E. 58th Street
Chicago, IL. 60637

Tel. 773-834-8977  Fax. 773-702-8487