IC Colloquium : DNA information storage and computing

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Event details

Date 02.12.2016
Hour 16:1517:30
Location
Category Conferences - Seminars
By : Georg Seelig - University of Washington

Abstract :
In this presentation, I will cover two related but different connections between computer science and DNA. First, I will talk about DNA data storage, then about DNA computation.

DNA data storage.  The amount of digital data in the world is growing exponentially and current storage technologies are ill-suited to keep up with this rapidly growing demand. Storing information in synthetic DNA could be an attractive alternative due to its theoretical information density --- ~ 1018B/mm3, 107 times denser than magnetic tape --- and potential durability of thousands of years. Recent work argued that the time is right to start using DNA as a storage method, but used only modest volumes of data to create proofs of concept. In recent work, we demonstrated a path towards viability of DNA data storage by scaling and developing support for large-scale random access. We encoded and stored over 30 files totaling about 150MB of data in more than 10 million oligonucleotides of DNA, representing an advance of over an order of magnitude compared to prior work.

DNA computing. Performing computation inside living cells offers life-changing applications, from improved medical diagnostics to better cancer therapy to intelligent drugs. Due to its bio-compatibility and ease of engineering, one promising approach for performing in-vivo computation is DNA strand displacement. I will explain what DNA strand displacement is and it can be used to create logic gates and circuits. Importantly, the goal of these approaches is not to solve general computational problems faster than electronics could. Instead, current DNA-based computing aims to develop molecular information processing similar to that which occurs inside cells and to engineer systems that can process information that is intrinsically molecular (such as the information encoded in the concentrations of various cellular molecules). In other words, it is a promising way to embed bio-compatible computing elements into a living cell.

Bio :
Georg Seelig is an associate professor of Computer Science & Engineering and Electrical Engineering at the University of Washington. He is an adjunct associate professor of Bioengineering. Seelig holds a PhD in physics from the University of Geneva in Switzerland and did postdoctoral work in synthetic biology and DNA nanotechnology at Caltech. He received a Burroughs Wellcome Foundation Career Award at the Scientific Interface in 2008, an NSF Career Award in 2010, a Sloan Research Fellowship in 2011, a DARPA Young Faculty Award in 2012, an ONR Young Investigator Award in 2014 and a Microsoft Outstanding Collaborator Award in 2016. 
 
Seelig is interested in understanding how biological organisms process information using complex biochemical networks and how such networks can be engineered to program cellular behavior. Our approach combines forward engineering of synthetic circuits with the quantitative characterization of existing RNA-based gene regulatory pathways. We are applying engineered circuits to problems in disease diagnostics and therapy.

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Practical information

  • General public
  • Free
  • This event is internal

Contact

  • Host : Jim Larus

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