PECASE: Foundations of Autonomous Biomolecular Computation

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EIA-0093486Winfree, ErikCalifornia Institute of TechnologyPECASE: Foundations of Autonomous Biomolecular ComputationThe project is developing autonomous, programmable biochemical systems that operate in a microscopic drop of liquid to achieve chemical tasks, such as nanostructure fabrication. Theoretical models of autonomous biomolecular computation to implement these models experimentally using DNA molecules, and to quantitatively characterize individual molecular logic components and the larger systems built from them are being performed. Beyond the specific context of DNA, this research is creating a prototype of autonomous biomolecular computing systems and explore fundamental robustness issues in nanoscale computing, such as cross-talk between species and stochastic events due to thermal noise and diffusion. The project is aiming to leverage their advanced control over biochemical systems to begin establishing a broader foundation for reliable molecular computing.Two new courses are being developed introducing students to the necessary concepts and tools required to begin work in biomolecular computation. This research is establishing an experimental system for exploring computation by biological molecules, and is providing fundamental knowledge and principles for nanoscale computation, such as models of computation, molecular algorithms, physical limits, errors and error correction. Although biomolecular systems are massively parallel, asynchronous, stochastic, and hard to design, the PI is researching on new programming principles, leading to a science of molecular computation.