[PRL] Fwd: POPL Trip Report (part 2 of 2)

Karl Lieberherr lieber at ccs.neu.edu
Tue Jan 22 17:48:47 EST 2008


Mark your calendar: Vincent Danos will give a talk in our colloquium on Feb.
11, 2008.

Vincent is looking for an intern interested in biology.

-- Karl

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mitchell Wand <wand at ccs.neu.edu>
Date: Jan 10, 2008 8:44 PM
Subject: [PRL] POPL Trip Report (part 2 of 2)
To: PRL <prl at lists.ccs.neu.edu>


Alas, I have to leave tonite, so this will be the last installment.  Enjoy.
--Mitch
================================================================

Invited Talk: Walter Fontana, Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School
Systems Biology & Programming Languages

This guy is a molecular biologist with a more-than-passing interest in
CS and PL in particular. (He's found the shortest term for predecessor
on Church numerals, using a genetic algorithm!).

He's been working with Vincent Danos and several other heavyweights.
Danos has a language called Kappa for describing molecular
interactions.  The speaker claims that this language is good for
describing models and suggesting the questions that wetlab biologists
should ask.  (NOT in themselves as answering biological
questions). "Models as a communication medium".

eg if you do analysis of a Kappa program (AKA a model of a biological
system), you can find possible pathways, etc.

He also has a startup in Cambridge, called Plectix BioSystems,
producing "Kappa Factory: a model-based reasoning environment useful
to every molecular biologist".  (They do NOT have a website, but write
to andrea at plectix.com for employment opportunities.  They are looking
for a senior technologist + others).

In any case we should invite him to give a talk (Distinguished
Lecture?)
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