DNA Computing and Molecular Programming

University Of South Florida, Tampa FL

Investigators

Abstract

The 22nd installment of the conference "DNA Computing and Molecular Programming" will be held at Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany from 4th till 8th of September 2016. The conference will bring together a wide range of speakers; from leading theoretical computer scientists/mathematicians through theoreticians who actively collaborate with experimentalists, to molecular biologists, biochemists and engineers whose experimental work supports development of new scientific and computing platforms. Since 1994, the conference has been held 21 times (http: //www.dna-computing.org/index.html) with alternating locations cycling every four years: North America, Europe, North America, Asia (in 2015 it was held in Boston at Harvard University). The conference is organized under the auspices of the International Society for Nanoscale Science Computing and Engineering (ISNSCE) (http://www.isnsce.org). The community has been exceedingly influential in catalyzing the development of novel fields of research such as cellular computing, applications to synthetic biology, as well as the extremely successful DNA origami technique. The main objective of this conference is (a) to advance the field of nucleic acid computing and molecular programming by bringing interdisciplinary research communities together and promoting open scientific interactions, and (b) to promote open discussions and provide opportunities for cooperation, in particular interactions between graduate students and established researchers from all countries in inciting new research developments. Intellectual Merit Several major directions of research under the umbrella of the "DNA Computing and Molecular Programming" conferences are being developed and advanced: (a) Molecular computing models, (b) Foundations of self-assembly, (c) DNA nanotechnology, (d) Chemical reaction circuits, (e) Molecular robotics. The conference presents the most significant results in these topics and features the most prominent researchers in the field. Moreover, several major developments in the field have been initiated through interactions fostered by this conference such as: novel molecular computing models, strand displacement processes, DNA tiles and algorithmic self-assembly, molecular walkers. Broader Impact By bringing together leading scientists in this multidisciplinary area of research, the conference represents an exciting venue for the exchange of knowledge and ideas. Computer science, mathematics, theoretical and experimental physics, chemistry and molecular biology are among the disciplines represented. The field of DNA computing and molecular programming remains extremely open to new ideas and open access policies. Individual groups, for example, share their results long before they are being published. One of the central goals of this conference is to further foster this spirit and stimulate the open exchanges as well as to promote interaction among graduate students and recent Ph.Ds from around the world. As has been proven in the past, these interactions will result in long-lasting research collaboration, as well as promote exchange of ideas in their current research interests. The conference has an excellent track record in bringing diverse groups together. The community has been extremely successful in attracting new students as well as promoting new scientific developments and has steadily grown over the years with over 220 participants (over 90 students) in 2015. In the last 10 years, DNA nanotechnology, which was practiced in a handful of laboratories world wide, has grown to be explored in hundreds of places worldwide. A large number of these scientists have been exposed to DNA/RNA nanotechnology through scientific meetings, most notably, the above named conference. International Collaboration: The conference DNA Computing and Molecular Programming is organized at the Ludwig-Maximilians University (LMU) in Munich 9/4--9/8, 2016 in cooperation with Tech University in Munich (TUM). This is an international collaboration among organizers from Germany, Denmark and USA. Partial funding has been secured through the Center for Nanoscience (PI-Tim Liedl, LMU) and Nanosystems Initiative Munich (PI-Fredrich Simmel, TUM). Additional funding comes from Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung BMBF. NSF funds will support US student travel to the conference. Preference will be given to under-represented and minority students. Partial support from the NSF's Global Venture Fund in the Office of International Science and Engineering and program fund from the Directorate of Computer and Information Science and Engineering is gratefully acknowledged.