CWIT 2017 is pleased to present a special track on biological information theory, consisting of one plenary talk and eight invited talks. Titles, abstracts, and speakers for this track are listed below.
Plenary Talk
Professor André Levchenko, Yale University
Information transfer in living cells: from bits to decisions
Abstract: Biology is an information science par excellence. One of the key functions of biological systems is the storage of genetic information and its use in a way conditioned on the information from environmental inputs. In this talk I will review the recent exciting developments in evaluation of information processing by the dedicated signaling pathways and networks within living cells. I will also introduce the new directions in this research, focusing in particular on how the information about environmental changes generates complex cell population responses, and ultimately results in shaping of living tissues and other key biological functions. I will argue that the language of information theory can be a universal language allowing convergence of biological and engineering systems on the way to design of hybrid organisms of the future.
Invited Talks
- Prof. Peter Thomas, Case Western Reserve University: On the channel capacity of channel rhodopsin (and other biological signal transduction pathways)
- Prof. Mike Hinczewski, Case Western Reserve University: Microeconomics: the price of information transfer in living cells
- Prof. Andrew Mugler, Purdue University: Collective information processing by communicating cells
- Prof. Tadashi Nakano, Osaka University: Mobile Molecular Communication Networks: Applications to Targeted Drug Delivery
- Prof. Chris Rose, Brown University: Die-Token-Die vs. Wait-Receiver-Wait: Molecular communication with finite symbol intervals
- Prof. Lav Varshney, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: On Nanopore Sequencing of the Epigenome in the Presence of Noise
- Prof. Nicoló Michelusi, Purdue University: On population density estimation via quorum sensing
- Prof. Chun Tung Chou, University of New South Wales: Chemical Reactions as Transmission Symbols