SemiSynBio-III: Power Management Strategies for Computing and Storage in Biological, Biohybrid and Synthetic Systems

Power management is key to energy-efficient computing and data storage in biological and synthetic systems. This project proposes an interactive approach to study the specific issue of power management in computer systems nerve cells, and emerging hybrid biocomputation devices. Power management refers to the control of energy expenditures in response to demand. For example, a computer may “go to sleep” when not in use, or an organism may reduce blood supply to a dormant region of the brain. Advanced power management can deliver significant energy savings in engineering systems. The project will study power management in brain cells with the goal of discovering the natural strategies. The natural strategies will be compared with engineering approaches for broader understanding and emerging of new concepts, which will be tested in new bio-nano computing and storage devices. It is expected these strategies will result in better performance at lower energy consumption for biological information storage and biocomputers. The team consists of a computer engineer, a biologist, and a materials scientist and their students. An integrated approach to educating K-12, undergraduate and graduate students at the intersection of semiconductor technologies and synthetic biology will be developed.By examining engineering strategies for power management, testable hypotheses about biological mechanisms will be developed. It is expected that the biological mechanisms, in turn, will point towards new bioinspired engineering solutions. The project will define power management strategies employed in neurons and glia (Theme 1), integrate power management into bio-nano hybrid position-based computing devices (Theme 3), and develop tools supporting the design, simulation, and verification of position- based bio-nano circuits with integral power management (Theme 5). Successful completion of the project will deliver an integrated perspective on the benefits and ultimate performance limits of power management strategies, generate new hypotheses and insights into the unparalleled energy efficiency of biological computation, demonstrate advances in the engineering bio-nano hybrid systems, and translate the insights into new solutions for semiconductor devices. An integrated educational approach to enable diverse audiences of K- 12, undergraduate and graduate students to acquire joint expertise in semiconductors and synthetic biology will be developed. The proposed research has the potential to benefit society by advancing our understanding of the mechanisms underlying neuronal functioning, which will advance the prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases; by creating progress towards materials resembling “living materials” in their ability to sense, compute, and respond; and by reducing the energy requirements for data processing and storage, which minimizes the rapidly increasing carbon footprint of computing.This project has been jointly funded by Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB) in the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO), Division of Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF) in the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS) in the Directorate for Engineering (ENG), and the Division of Materials Research (DMR) in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.