Playing robotics with DNA

Darko Stefanovic (Department of Computer Science, University of New Mexico)

COMPUTER SYSTEMS SEMINAR

DATE: 2013-10-18
TIME: 11:00:00 - 12:00:00
LOCATION: Ian Ross Seminar Room
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ABSTRACT:
Can we build molecular-scale devices that are justly called robots? A macroscopic robot has a large source of deterministic computational power that it uses to process the information from its sensors and guide its actuators. At the molecular scale there seems to be little computation available, while sensing and actuation are directly linked. Yet nature's molecular "motors" and "machines" in cells are responsible for maintaining life processes. To begin answering the question, we can take a synthetic approach, inspired by both the macroscopic robotics analogues and the biological analogues. I will review my involvement in the development of DNA-based computational circuits and walkers. I will also touch on the role of programming languages in this enterprise.

BIO:
Darko Stefanovic received a PhD in computer science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1998, and was a postdoctoral associate at Princeton University 1998-2000. Since 2000, he has been at the University of New Mexico, where he is now associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and the Center for Biomedical Engineering. He has worked on programming language implementation, memory management, computer security, and molecular computing.