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LOCATION:ICFO auditorium
SUMMARY:ICFO | SONIA CONTERA
CLASS:PUBLIC
DESCRIPTION:BIO:&nbsp\;\nProf. Sonia Contera works on physics at the interf
 ace of biology\, nanotechnology\, and information processing. She is an ex
 pert in atomic force microscopy of biological systems and has a special in
 terest in the role of mechanics in biology. &nbsp\;\nHer interest in matte
 r at the nanometer scale led her from a PhD at Osaka University (Japan) on
  the physics of nanostructures\, to biology. Her multidisciplinary journey
  is a quest to interrogate how matter entangles itself with its environmen
 t\, storing information in time and space\, to create (and sometimes to co
 mpute) complex structures (from the nanometer scale up) that are able to a
 dapt\, learn\, reproduce and evolve to become &ldquo\;alive&rdquo\;. Her m
 ain interest is understanding the profound physical meaning of &ldquo\;bio
 logical shape&rdquo\;\, so she studies the physics of &ldquo\;biological g
 rowth and shape&rdquo\; in diverse systems such as plants\, neural network
 s and tumors.\nShe is a believer in &ldquo\;learning by making&rdquo\;\, c
 ollaborating\, creating technology\, engaging with the public. By doing so
  she finds interesting problems\, but more fundamentally she strives to we
 ave responsibility into her science\, so her work can contribute to progre
 ss in a meaningful\, ethical\, and fairer way.&nbsp\;\n&nbsp\;\nABSTRACT:&
 nbsp\;\nHow and why do we design and build artificial structures and even 
 machines at the nanoscale using DNA\, proteins\, and other biological mole
 cules or construct hybrid bio-inorganic robots using the building principl
 es of biology? I will explore how nanotechnology (the capacity to visualiz
 e and manipulate matter at the nanoscale) is revolutionizing medicine in w
 ays that will have profound effects on our health. From nanomachines inspi
 red by biology that can train the immune system to fight cancer\, to nano-
 antibiotics that can eliminate resistant bacteria and vaccines to end the 
 COVID pandemic\, to the engineering of tissues and organs for research\, d
 rug discovery\, and transplantation. More profoundly nanotech facilitates 
 the study of biology within the framework of physics\, thereby creating in
 terfaces with other fields (e.g. bioinspired quantum devices and computer 
 science). This will potentially change not only the future of materials\, 
 engineering and AI\, but also the way we think about life itself\, and dar
 e to think how we pose questions such as &ldquo\;what is intuition?&rdquo\
 ; from a physics lab.
DTSTAMP:20260428T200246Z
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