FET: Medium: Collaborative Research: Engineerable Molecular Computing: Flying like an Airplane, not like a Bird

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Computation via chemical reactions is prevalent in biology as every cell performs sophisticated information processing on internal and external chemical signals. Engineering synthetic biochemical pathways that are likewise capable of decision-making will impact a range of applications in manufacturing, chemical sensing, and medicine. Work funded by this project constructs smart molecular systems using two novel paradigms that, although inspired by biology, are very different from evolved biological systems (analogously to how airplanes do not fly by flapping their wings). The success of this project will lead to a new understanding of how chemical reactions can perform information processing, and to a new generation of functional molecular devices. The educational and outreach activities funded by this project, in collaboration with the Association for Women in Mathematics, also address the serious problem of the low percentage of women in computer science research.Direct analysis and manipulation of molecular information (e.g., the information encoded in the concentrations of various molecules) is where molecular computing outcompetes its electronic counterparts. The project advances the computer science theory and experimental capability to engineer chemical information processing with nucleic acids (DNA) by two new paradigms: (1) molecular computation programmed by the stoichiometry of reactions (independent of reaction rates); (2) molecular computation programmed by a simple combinatorial model of thermodynamics. The new paradigms result in greater robustness and easier programmability than existing approaches. Also, in contrast to existing methods, this proposal will yield reusable molecular computation, whereby switching the input results in dynamically updating output.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.