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Yannick Rondelez, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo
Reaction-networks programs and their parameter landscapes
Complex behaviors can be produced -or controlled- by networks of simple elements connected in precisely organized larger systems. What would be possible if we could experimentally instantiate a given network using chemical reactions, as easily as we connect transistors on an electronic breadboard ? Some of the possibilities that would open are exemplified by impressive biological phenomena such as genetic regulation, morphogenesis, or the immune system, all controlled solely by dedicated chemical reaction networks. Recent propositions of experimentally constructible “universal” chemistries provide some steps in this direction. In these systems, any topology of reaction network can be build, because the identity of the nodes (the molecular compounds) can always be found as short DNA strands. However, the dynamic behavior of a network is controlled not only by its topology/structure, but results from the interplay with the dynamical properties of each individual element. In a chemical, well-mixed context, these individual properties are difficult to tune, and in many cases incompletely characterized. How should we then think about the functional potential of a given chemical reaction network ? By compartmentalizing reaction network in minute droplets, we can now interrogate the relationships between local features and global behaviors of molecular programs in a high throughput format.
Séminaire de Biophysique ENS-ESPCI :
Organisation Team
ESPCI ParisTech : Olivia DU ROURE (PMMH), Clément NIZAK (Lab. Biochimie)
ENS : Nicolas DESPRAT (LPS), Thierry MORA (LPS)
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