Nanoscale Communication: Energy and Information

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Nanoscale CommunicationEnergy and Information

• Tap the existing world of biological
  nanotechnology by constructing molecular level,
  functional interfaces between living systems and
  synthetic technology
• Domesticate life at the molecular and cellular
  level
• Develop design and fabrication principles that
  enable the construction of synthetic devices,
  with capabilities that rival those of living
  systems
• Bottom-up design and construction

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Two Nanoscale Revolutions
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Two Nanoscale Revolutions
Technology
Biology

• Technology, by human design
• Nanoscale dimensions beginning to be achieved
• Nanoscale properties harnessed in isolated
  examples
• Very limited capabilities compared with living
  systems

• Self-evolving
• Scientific understanding by discovery
• Intrinsically nanoscale
• Innumerable unique properties
• Capabilities generally can not be harnessed

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Existence is Established
All aspects of life are naturally emergent
physical properties

• What is it about living systems that enables them
  to perform such tasks?
• What is the technology?
• Can similar levels of functionality be engineered
  into synthetic systems?
• Can these functionalities be harnessed?
• Can living and nonliving be integrated?

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Nanoscale CommunicationEnergy and Information

• 5.1 Interfacing biological and nonbiological
• 5.2 Nano-macro junctions
• 5.3 Energy transduction at the nanoscale
• 5.4 Functional nanoscale systems and colonies

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5.1 Integrating living and nonliving

• Actively communicate with and direct cellular
  behavior
• Real-time two-way communication as in living
  organism
• Decode biological communication principles
• Establish synthetic (molecular-level)
  communication with living cells
• Develop minimal self-sustaining (living or
  nonliving) organism
• Bottom-up synthetic cell
• Top-down minimal cell

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Electronic Logic
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Biological Logic
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Biological Logic
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Breaking the Living-Nonliving Barrier
Living receptor protein
Living cell
Synthetic receptor protein
Carbon nanotube
Synthetic cell membrane
Solidstate electronics
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5.2 Nano-macro junctions

• Photonic
• Plasmonics and subwavelength light control
• Electrical/Magnetic
• Molecular wirebonds
• Mechanical
• Chemomechanical motor drive
• Combining different approaches

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Photon/Electron transduction
Electron/Photon transduction at quantum
limit Nanowire optoelectronics
Nanotube LED with tunable junction location
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5.3 Energy Transduction at the Nanoscale

• Photonic, electronic, and chemical transitions
• Photon electron/ion coupling
• Photon - chemical coupling
• Etc.
• Stochastic processes, signals and noise
• Biological signal transduction and information
  processing
• Molecular motors

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Molecular Motor
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Molecular Motor Function Capturing Fluctuations
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5.4 Functional nanoscale systems and colonies

• Building nanoscale assemblies
• Self-regulating adaptive interactive systems
• Metabolism
• Information replication
• Self-replicating life
• Ad-hoc networking among nanoscale devices

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Bacteria quorum sensing nano to micro
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Quorum sensing nano to mega
Self-organiation on the megameter scale
PNAS October 4, 2005 vol. 102 no. 40
1418114184
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Conceptual Origins
Maxwell control randomness
Mendel use randomness
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Conceptual Origins
Maxwell control randomness
Mendel use randomness
Random biological evolution has developed
technology that controls randomness