molpigs, The Molecular Programming Interest Group, is an international group of researchers interested in topics such as molecular programming, DNA computing, and other aspects of biomolecular nanotechnology. We host regular podcasts, keep you up to date on goings-on in our newsletter, and run a slack for discussion and fostering collaboration.
Hello and welcome back to the molpigs newsletter! Feel free to hang out on the molpigs slack! We are also on twitter!
All the past podcasts and tutorials can be found here. Enjoy!
- Podcast with Prof. Ashwin Gopinath
- Recruiting: A podcast audio editor!
1. Podcast with Prof. Ashwin Gopinath
In this episode we talked with Ashwin Gopinath about bridging size scales in nanomaterials. We explore his journey from optical physics to learning DNA nanotechnology in the Rothemund lab and his current projects and vision for highly multiplexed molecular measurements. Ashwin’s career path has been quite the adventure, starting in academia, working for Google and then starting and later selling his own company. Finally, we turn to ways that AI is going to change research and the impending death of the current grant-funding structure. His excitement for scientific progress, perspective on different work environments and creativity in research is always inspiring for scientists young and old.
Ashwin Gopinath received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Boston University, working on devices for detecting and characterizing single biomolecules. Challenges he encountered during this motivated him to switch focus from optical physics to DNA nanotechnology, leading to a postdoc under Paul Rothemund at Caltech. After working briefly for Google X, he is now an Assistant Professor at MIT. He has received the Robert Dirks Molecular Programming Prize for his work combining DNA nanotechnology with conventional micro-fabrication.
(The paper Ashwin mentioned on developing new AI capabilities can be found here.)
2. Recruiting: A podcast audio editor!
Are you skilled with audio editing software, enjoy the molpigs podcast, and want to help make it even better? Then please get in touch!
Useful Links
- Slack invitation
- Follow us on twitter
- Find our podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, TuneIn, Youtube, and RSS
- Sign up to the newsletter of the Molecular Programming Society