IMX Seminar Series - Computational Nanotechnology
2022-09-26 13:15 - 14:15 | MXF 1 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==MXF%201
Dr. Aleksei Aksimentiev, The Aksimentiev Group, Illinois USA
Building Synthetic Molecular Machines Using the Code of Life

While incremental miniaturization of a man-made machine is possible by simply reducing the size of its parts, radical miniaturization typically requires re-evaluation of physical principles that govern the machine's operation. Biological systems provide outstanding examples of machines that operate with high precision and efficiency at the nanoscale. Replicating such functionality in man-made systems remains an outstanding scientific and technological challenge. In this lecture, I will describe our recent work directed at designing synthetic molecular systems that reproduce and sometimes outperformed the functionality of biological machines. The topics to be discussed include self-assembled molecular systems that transport water, ions and lipids across biological membranes and convert electric field into rotary motion. The lecture will highlight the use of microscopic simulations to design and explore nanoscale biomolecular systems.
