Population-based microbial computing Event

Abstract

Synthetic biology is an emerging research field, in which engineering principles are applied to natural, living systems. A major goal of synthetic biology is to harness the inherent "biological nanotechnology" of living cells for the purposes of computation, production, or diagnosis. As the field evolves, it is gradually moving away from a single-cell approach (akin to using standalone computers) to a distributed, population-based approach (rather like using networks of connected machines). In this talk we present several recent results from our group, describing various aspects of this new form of biological engineering. Specifically, we show, using computational studies aligned with laboratory work, how reconfigurable logic devices may be constructed using bacteria, how these may be used as the basis for a "client-server" model of microbial computing, and how bacterial conjugation may provide a new (and, potentially, very rich) communication scheme.

The talk will run from 3-4pm in B53/4025, Highfield Campus.

All CS4 talks are free and refreshments will be provided from 4pm. For videos of previous talks and interviews and details of future talks please visit:

http://cs4southampton.wordpress.com

To help us manage numbers, if you would like to attend one of our seminar series please can you inform Jo Corsi josephine.corsi@soton.ac.uk