2018 Systems Chemistry Gordon Research Conferences
Abstract
A critical difference between man-made processes and products and those found integrated within our biosphere is the typically passive and static nature of synthetic materials. Life is the product of complex systems of mutualislic molecular reactions with these connections and interactions giving rise to highly dynamic and functional chemical networks. While research into the nature of complex systems is by now well established in some related scientific disciplines (e.g., physics, biology, computer science), chemistry embraced a systems view only more recently. The ability to control such dynamic chemical systems may pave the way to understanding the emergence of function in early evolution, and consequently, for the design and preparation of functional biomimetic systems as complex as cells and tissues. It is anticipated that developing such systems will deliver, in the short and long term, radically different approaches in areas ranging from materials science to alternative evolvable living networks, and place limits on whether biology is an inherent property of matter and energy The design and study of complex systems, including dynamic, self-organizing, multi-component chemical networks, has now been integrated naturally under the umbrella of the recently inaugurated discipline of Systems Chemistry. The proposed conference will offer a first and much needed international venue for presenting and discussing breakthrough results in systems chemistry, for sharing new emerging methodology, and for refinement of the ideas coherently across these rapidly emerging new research directions. With the recent advances in instrumentation and analytical tools, complex chemical systems are opening new approaches for the construction and design of dynamic mesoscale materials. Coherence remains limited by the diversity of disciplines involved, with chemistry, physics, bio-engineering and structural biology scientists all independently converging on the central topic of complex chemical systems. This diversity applies equally to scientists from communities studying (i) supramolecular chemistry, (ii) the living/non-living interfaces, and (iii) far-from-equilibrium chemical networks, and (iv) the theory/experiment continuum. A confluence of these fields could catalyze the rise of new emergent functions not apparent in the system s components.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Feb 14, 2019
- Source ID
- W911NF1810165
Entities
People
- David G Lynn
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- Gordon Research Conferences
- United States Army