Computing with Biomolecules: From Network Motifs to Complex and Adaptive Systems: ALife14 Workshop

生物分子计算的目的：从网络基元到复杂和自适应系统研讨会（http://bit）。与第14届生命系统合成与模拟国际会议联合举办的“生物分子研讨会”将汇集在生物分子计算领域工作的研究人员、博士后和学生。为了教育和培训这一前沿研究领域的新劳动力，学生参与研讨会是关键，这一领域有许多生物医学应用。生物医学技术的新发现和新技术有可能对社会产生重大的有益影响。今天的计算面临着新的挑战，其形式是设计复杂性的增加和严重的制造问题。同时，新的应用领域，如医学和生物技术，迫切需要更多的计算资源和将计算与物理世界相结合的新方法。在过去的半个世纪里，传统的计算机硬件和软件制造方式面临挑战，这激发了人们对超越标准方法（布尔逻辑门和冯·诺伊曼计算机体系结构）的新颖和非常规计算机器的追求。生物技术的应用表明，人们应该为新的计算机寻找生物相容的计算基板。这需要新的范式和工程方法来组织、交互和编程这样的机器，以满足未来现实世界的挑战，并保证计算机科学的持续进步。生物分子组件是下一代计算机的重要组成部分。它们具有独特的特性，如生物相容性、适应性和明显的自组织能力。如果要在化学动力学和干扰副反应的约束下实现通用的大规模分子电路，就需要系统地理解如何以工程原理和抽象的形式用分子网络构建系统级复杂性。本次研讨会的目的是将研究人员、博士后和在生物分子计算领域工作的学生聚集在一起。研讨会将是一个前沿研究交流的论坛，重点是学生和博士后之间的交流。研讨会的一个特别重点将是针对适应和学习的大规模生物分子自动机。这种系统通常需要将数百到数千个分子耦合到复杂的相互作用网络中。讲习班将促进对新方法和新愿景的讨论，以及对当前方法的批判性反思。除了定期报告外，还计划邀请该领域的一位杰出人士作一次演讲。最后但并非最不重要的是，论坛将允许参与者探索生物化学（“生命”）系统和数字/电子（“计算机”）系统中信息处理的基本异同。

The purpose of the Computing with Biomolecules: From Network Motifs to Complex and Adaptive Systems workshop (http://bit.ly/Alife14BiomoleculesWorkshop), organized in conjunction with the 14th International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems, is to bring together researchers, postdocs, and students working in the area of computing with biomolecules. Student involvement in the workshop is key in order to educate and train a new workforce for this cutting-edge field of research, which has many biomedical applications. New discoveries and technologies in biomedical technology have the potential for a major beneficial impact on society.Computing today faces new challenges in the form of increase in design complexity and serious manufacturing issues. Simultaneously, new applications areas, such as medicine and biotechnology, cry out for both more computing resources and novel ways of coupling computation to the physical world. The challenges to the conventional way in which computer hardware and software have been built for the past half-century inspire a quest for novel and unconventional computing machines, going beyond standard approaches - Boolean logic gates and von Neumann computer architectures. Applications in biotechnology suggest one should seek biocompatible computing substrates for the new computing machines. This requires new paradigms and engineering methods to organize, interact with, and program such machines in order to meet real-world challenges of tomorrow and to guarantee continuing progress in computer science. Biomolecular components are promising building blocks for next-generation computing machines. They have unique properties, such as biocompatibility, adaptability, and manifest ability to self-organize. A systematic understanding of how to build system-level complexity with molecular networks, in the form of engineering principles and abstractions, is called for, if general-purpose large-scale molecular circuits are to be implemented, within the constraints imposed by the chemical kinetics and interfering side reactions. The purpose of this workshop is to bring together researchers, postdocs, and students working in the area of computing with biomolecules. The workshop will be a forum for exchange of cutting-edge research, with an emphasis on exchanges among the students and postdocs. A special focus of the workshop will be directed toward large-scale biomolecular automata that adapt and learn. Such systems typically require the coupling of hundreds to thousands of molecules into complex interactive networks. The workshop will foster discussion of new approaches and visions, and critical reflection on current approaches. In addition to regular presentations, one invited talk given by a luminary in the field is planned. Last but not least, the forum will allow participants to probe the fundamental similarities and differences between information processing in biochemical ("living") systems and digital/electronic ("computer") systems.