[Legacy Report] Learning from Biology

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Although microelectronics technology has progressed very quickly in the past sixty years, in many ways it is still catching up. Over millions of years, biological systems have evolved exquisite capabilities far beyond those of modern technology. One way to overcome this “technology gap” is to learn from biology. This approach is by no means new, and researchers have pursued this elusive goal in many different ways – by replicating structure, by emulating function, by establishing links, and by studying mechanisms of the natural world. What is different today are the sophisticated tools that we can employ to create hybrid bioelectronic systems and incorporate principles of adaptation into micro- and nano-systems. This talk will discuss several efforts along these lines, including sensors that directly monitor the responses of living cells and also circuits that automatically adjust their characteristics to improve performance. I’ll highlight some directions and remaining challenges in the path ahead, as well as novel applications that are made possible by these advances.

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