[Colloquium] [Staff] Theory Seminars at Computer Science

[Donna Brooms]

**REMINDER**

COMPUTER SCIENCE

The University of Chicago

THEORY SEMINAR

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Date:		Friday, February 10, 2012

Time:		3 p.m.

Place:		Ryerson 251, 1100 E. 58th Street

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Speaker:	Erik Winfree

From:		California Institute of Technology

Title:		Life at the interface of Computer Science and Chemistry

Abstract:

At its deepest level, life relies on information-based chemistry: DNA encodes programs	
for orchestrating chemical processes to accomplish tasks essential to living organisms,
such as constructing molecular structures and making decisions based on molecular
sensors. To better understand life, and more practically to develop programmable
molecular technologies, a rich theory and practice for information-based chemistry is
needed. Building on DNA nanotechnology and cell-free synthetic biology, we have been
exploring how designable molecular mechanisms such as folding, self-assembly,
catalysis, and motors can serve as the basis for molecular "programming languages". To
do so requires integrating nucleic acid biophysics, computational simulations, abstract
models of molecular computation, computational complexity theory, the development of
compilers that transform high-level specifications into synthesizable nucleic acid
sequences, and laboratory demonstrations of DNA systems performing sophisticated
tasks at the molecular level. While falling far short of the sophistication of life and still
unproven for technological applications, these investigations are helping to develop a
new way of thinking about information-based chemical systems.

Host: Laszlo Babai

*Followed by refreshment in Eck. #209 @ 4p.m.*

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