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SUMMARY:Performing computation with DNA - Neil Dalchau (Microsoft (UK))
DTSTART:20160121T141500Z
DTEND:20160121T150000Z
UID:TALK64667@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:INI IT
DESCRIPTION:The development of technology to read and write DNA quickly an
 d cheaply is enabling new opportunities for programming biological systems
 . One example of this is DNA computing\, a field devoted to implementing c
 omputation in purely biological materials. The hope is that this would ena
 ble computation to be performed inside cells\, which could pave the way fo
 r so-called &ldquo\;smart therapeutics&rdquo\;. Naturally\, what we have l
 earned in computer science can be applied to DNA computing systems\, and h
 as enabled the implementation of a wide variety of examples of performing 
 computation. Examples include DNA circuits for computing a square root\, i
 mplementing artificial neural networks\, and a general scheme for describi
 ng arbitrary chemical reaction networks (CRNs)\, which itself can be thoug
 ht of as a compiler. <br><br>We have used such a CRN compiler of DNA circu
 itry to implement the approximate majority (AM) algorithm\, which seeks to
  determine the initial majority of a population of agents holding differen
 t beliefs. In its simplest form\, the algorithm can be described by three 
 chemical reactions. In this talk\, I will describe how we implemented\, ch
 aracterized and modelled a purely DNA implementation of the AM reactions. 
 Along the way\, I will demonstrate our software platform for programming b
 iological computation. The platform brings together a variety of stochasti
 c methods that are relevant for both programming and understanding biochem
 ical systems\, including stochastic simulation\, integration of the chemic
 al master equation\, a linear noise approximation\, and Markov chain Monte
  Carlo methods for parameter inference.  I will also show preliminary work
  on synthesizing CRNs with specified probabilistic behaviours.<br><br>Rela
 ted Links<ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://research.microso
 ft.com/en-us/people/ndalchau/</a> - Personal website</li><li><a target="_b
 lank" rel="nofollow">http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/dna/</a>
  - &#39\;Programming DNA circuits&#39\; project</li></ul>
LOCATION:Seminar Room 1\, Newton Institute
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