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Genesis Machines: Synthetic Biology and the Engineering of Life
Speaker:
Dr Martyn Amos, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Venue:
Meeting Room, School of Computer Engineering
Date: 27 September 2007, Thursday
Time: 3.00 - 4.00 pm
Chair:
A/Prof Lin Feng
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Abstract:
Molecular Computers have been dreamt of since the 1950s, and a
reality since 1994. Right now, living cells are being integrated
with silicon nanontubes to create hybrid machines with entirely
new capabilities. This research raises amazing new questions.
Does nature 'compute', and, if so, how? Can natural systems
inspire entirely new ways of doing computation? How can humanity
benefit from this revolutionary new technology? What are
the dangers? And what are the ethical implications of tinkering
with nature's circuits? In this talk, he will examine just
what it means to reprogram the logic of life.
Biodata
of Speaker:
Dr Martyn Amos is a Senior Lecturer in the Department
of Computing and Mathematics at Manchester Metropolitan University,
UK. He graduated in Computer Science from Coventry University in
1993, before obtaining the world's first Ph.D. in DNA computing
in 1997, from the University of Warwick. He then held a Leverhulme
Special Research Fellowship, before taking up academic appointments
at the Universities of Liverpool (2000-2002) and Exeter (2002-2006).
He has edited or written several books on the intersection of biology
and computer science, and is the Deputy Director of the European
Molecular Computing Consortium.
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