The purpose of the Computing with Biomolecules: From Network Motifs to Complex and Adaptive Systems workshop (http://bit.ly/Alife14BiomoleculesWorkshop), organized in conjunction with the 14th International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems, is to bring together researchers, postdocs, and students working in the area of computing with biomolecules. Student involvement in the workshop is key in order to educate and train a new workforce for this cutting-edge field of research, which has many biomedical applications. New discoveries and technologies in biomedical technology have the potential for a major beneficial impact on society.
Computing today faces new challenges in the form of increase in design complexity and serious manufacturing issues. Simultaneously, new applications areas, such as medicine and biotechnology, cry out for both more computing resources and novel ways of coupling computation to the physical world. The challenges to the conventional way in which computer hardware and software have been built for the past half-century inspire a quest for novel and unconventional computing machines, going beyond standard approaches - Boolean logic gates and von Neumann computer architectures. Applications in biotechnology suggest one should seek biocompatible computing substrates for the new computing machines. This requires new paradigms and engineering methods to organize, interact with, and program such machines in order to meet real-world challenges of tomorrow and to guarantee continuing progress in computer science. Biomolecular components are promising building blocks for next-generation computing machines. They have unique properties, such as biocompatibility, adaptability, and manifest ability to self-organize. A systematic understanding of how to build system-level complexity with molecular networks, in the form of engineering principles and abstractions, is called for, if general-purpose large-scale molecular circuits are to be implemented, within the constraints imposed by the chemical kinetics and interfering side reactions. The purpose of this workshop is to bring together researchers, postdocs, and students working in the area of computing with biomolecules. The workshop will be a forum for exchange of cutting-edge research, with an emphasis on exchanges among the students and postdocs. A special focus of the workshop will be directed toward large-scale biomolecular automata that adapt and learn. Such systems typically require the coupling of hundreds to thousands of molecules into complex interactive networks. The workshop will foster discussion of new approaches and visions, and critical reflection on current approaches. In addition to regular presentations, one invited talk given by a luminary in the field is planned. Last but not least, the forum will allow participants to probe the fundamental similarities and differences between information processing in biochemical ("living") systems and digital/electronic ("computer") systems.
