“Nano Comes to Life”: DNA NanoTech, Medicine and the Future of Biology with Professor Sonia Contera

Nano Comes to Like on Bridging the Gaps

Nanotechnology allows scientists to better understand, interact with, and manipulate biology by creating and manufacturing artificial structures and even machines at the nanoscale out of DNA, proteins, and other biological molecules. From nanoscale machines that can target individual cancer cells and deliver drugs more effectively to nanoantibiotics that can fight resistant bacteria, to the engineering of tissues and organs for research, drug discovery, and transplantation, nanotechnology is revolutionizing medicine in ways that will have profound effects on our health and longevity.

In this episode of Bridging the Gaps I speak with Professor Sonia Contera and we discuss fascinating research that she presents in her book “Nano Comes to Life: How Nanotechnology Is Transforming Medicine and the Future of Biology”. The book introduces readers to nanotechnologies, which are fast advancing and allowing us to influence the basic building components of life. Sonia Contera provides an insider’s view of this new frontier, explaining how nanotechnology permits a new sort of transdisciplinary science that has the potential to give us power over our own biology, health, and lifestyles. Sonia Contera is professor of biological physics in the Department of Physics at the University of Oxford. Her work lies at the interface of physics, biology, and nanotechnology, with a particular focus on the role of mechanics in biology.

We start by discussing the scale at which nanotechnologies function. The evolution of instruments and technology that allow us to perceive and interact with matter on such a microscopic scale is then discussed. The convergence of numerous sciences that are at the heart of such breakthroughs are then discussed, allowing us to build nano-scale structures from the ground up. We then discuss the fascinating research that enables researchers to design proteins on a computer simulator, figure out what kind of GENOME will make such protein from that simulated protein, create that GENOME, and then put it in a real cell to create that protein in reality. We also touch upon the cutting edge research in DNA Nanotechnology and other enabling technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, and the future of biology and medicine. This has been a fascinating discussion.

Complement this discussion by listening to “Artificial Intelligence: Fascinating Opportunities and Emerging Challenges with Professor Bart Selman and then listen to Is Philosophy Dead? On the Bittersweet Relationship Between Science and Philosophy” with Professor Tim Maudlin.

By |August 22nd, 2021|Artificial Intelligence, Biology, Nano Technology, Physics, Research, Technology|
Read More

Artificial Intelligence: Fascinating Opportunities and Emerging Challenges with Professor Bart Selman

Research and development in the field of Artificial Intelligence is progressing at an amazing pace. These developments are moving beyond simple applications such as machine vision, autonomous vehicles, natural language processing and medical diagnosis. Future AI systems will be able to use reasoning to make decisions; will employ innovative models of non-human intelligence; will augment human intelligence through human centric AI Systems. These systems will enable us to discover solutions to scientific and social problems, and will enable us to understand the physical world around us that has never been possible up-to this point in time. In this episode of Bridging the Gaps, I speak with Professor Bart Selman to discuss these fascinating opportunities as well as emerging challenges in the field of Artificial Intelligence.

Bart Selman is a Professor of Computer Science at Cornell University. He is a Fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Professor Bart Selman is the president-elect of The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. We begin our conversation by going through some of the recent developments in the field of Artificial Intelligence and how far we are from achieving the goal of developing Artificial General Intelligence.

We discuss in detail artificial reasoning, non-human intelligence and human centric AI. We also discuss state of the art research on the topic of explainable AI. We then discuss challenges posed by applying research in the field of AI to develop systems such as autonomous weapons, weaponized AI and other similar and sensitive domains. This has been a fascinating discussion about cutting edge research in the field of Artificial Intelligence.

Compliment Professor Selman’s insights with equally fascinating discussion with Professor Toby Walsh “2062: The World That AI Made”.

By |August 14th, 2020|Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Podcasts|
Read More

“Dark Data: Why What You Don’t Know Matters” with Professor David Hand

In the era of big data and super-fast information capturing and processing systems, it is easy to imagine that we have all the information that lead to actionable insights, that we need to make good decisions. However, according to David Hand, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics and Senior Research Investigator at Imperial College London, the data we have are never complete. Just as much of the universe is composed of dark matter, invisible to us but nonetheless present, the universe of information is full of dark data that we overlook at our peril. In his new book “Dark Data: Why What You Don’t Know Matters” Professor David Hand takes us on a fascinating and enlightening journey into the world of the data we don’t see.

As in his book “Brief Answers to the Big Questions” Stephen Hawking notes “No matter how powerful a computer you have, if you put lousy data in you will get lousy predictions out”, it is essential to understand anomalies and imperfections that a dataset may have. These imperfections may lead to incorrect and misleading insights.

The book “Dark Data: Why What You Don’t Know Matters” explores the many ways in which we can be blind to missing data and how that can lead us to conclusions and actions that are mistaken, dangerous, or even disastrous. Full of real-life examples, from the Challenger shuttle explosion to complex financial frauds, the book outlines a practical taxonomy of the types of dark data that exist and the situations in which they can arise, and informs the readers how to recognize and control dark data. Professor David Hand guides us not only to be alert to the problems presented by the things we don’t know, but also shows how dark data can be used to our advantage, leading to greater understanding and better decisions. Data is essential for decision making; the books shows us all how to reduce the risk of making bad decisions.

Complement this conversation with equally fascinating discussion on Artificial Intelligence with professor Bart Selman “Artificial Intelligence: Fascinating Opportunities and Emerging Challenges” and professor Toby Walsh “2062: The World That AI Made”.

By |March 11th, 2020|Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Podcasts|
Read More