Bio-Inspired Nanoelectronics and Systems

Dr. Matthew Tirrell, founding director of the Institute for Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago, spoke about nanotechnology at the recent IBM Research Centennial Colloquium at the Thomas J Watson Research Center. Dr. Tirrell’s work explores new materials based on self-assembly synthetic, and bio-inspired, materials.

“What we’re talking about is the modern age of genetic engineering, where we can imagine living foundries – that is, synthetic biology for synthetic chemistry, making a wide range of products that are perhaps known in nature, but not necessarily made by the organisms that we would like to make them in the most-efficient way [such as pharmaceuticals and fuels].”