Bourns Hall

Colloquium

 

Niles A. Pierce Applied & Computational Mathematics, Bioengineering Caltech Paradigms for Computational Nucleic Acid Design Abstract Consider the challenge of trying to design molecular machines from scratch. Toward this goal, we are developing a general computational framework for encoding mechanical function in DNA and RNA strands. A useful design algorithm must identify molecular sequences for experimental study that adopt desired conformations with both high affinity and high specificity. In addition to these thermodynamic considerations, the kinetic behavior of the strands may also be crucial to the intended function. This talk will describe algorithms for evaluating the properties of designed molecules and provide some experimental results on novel devices. Biosketch Niles Pierce received a BSE in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University in 1993 and a DPhil in Applied Mathematics from Oxford University in 1997, performing doctoral research with Prof. Michael Giles in numerical analysis and computational fluid dynamics. Following a postdoc working on computational protein design with Prof. Stephen Mayo at Caltech, his research has focused on computational and experimental nucleic acid design. Wednesday, January 28, 2004 Bourns Hall, Room A265 10:10 a.m.-11:00 a.m. (Refreshments will be served at 10:00 a.m.)