Anyone interested in AI, biology and their intersection should watch this...
Michael Levin: Biology, Life, Aliens, Evolution, Embryogenesis & Xenobot... https://t.co/qeenXF89RW
"We can see all four possible combinations of 2 #bits: 00, 01, 10, and 11. Growth can proceed indefinitely and at every step there's exactly one tile that can fit in a position. All by themselves they're executing an #algorithm that's counting in #binary."
"#DNA is a programmable molecule. If we give it different sequences, we can use it to do different things. If we design four sequences that have this [half & half] complementarity to each other, they'll find each other, bind, and assemble this structure [the #HollidayJunction]."
"With most programs, it's not runaway periodicity but, 'Let's do this set of instructions for a while, then branch out & do this other set.' With our model, we can design components that behave like the primitive instruction of a program with the algorithm intrinsically encoded."
"If you make a puzzle, every position has a unique component. With a virus, it's [much the same]; there's little-to-no component reuse. Another direction is periodic: you've got some base set of components used over and over in a repetitive pattern that goes off to infinity."
"What does it mean to compute in this very different manner? Not using silicon and digital circuits [but molecular systems like DNA]. It doesn't *have* to be done in DNA; these ideas are more abstract. These things might be going on in all sorts of natural systems."
π§΅ "Using #Computation to Drive the #SelfAssembly of Complex Structures"
Matthew Patitz, @UniversityOfArk
Follow this thread for insights and select slides.
Streaming now:
https://t.co/9FqESqevlo