Chemical Engineering Seminar

Title: Computing with Sweets and Sugars: Towards a Non-Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics of Post-Translational Codes

Abstract: Cells encode and process information through a rich repertoire of post-translational modifications, among which glycosylation stands out for its rich structural diversity and information density. Indeed, despite the centrality of the "sugar code" to cell signaling, immune recognition, and disease, we lack a principled physical framework for understanding how these molecular modifications perform computation. In this talk, I will describe our recent efforts to develop a non-equilibrium statistical mechanical theory of chemical computation. Starting from fundamental thermodynamic constraints on what chemical reaction networks can and cannot compute, I will show how chemical driving forces shape computational capacity. I will then discuss how these ideas extend to more complex network architectures and connect to specific biophysical observations. Throughout, I will highlight emerging connections between chemical reaction network theory, machine learning, and biological information processing.

Bio: Suri Vaikuntanathan is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Chicago. His research develops theoretical and computational approaches rooted in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics to understand how chemical and biological systems process information and perform computation. He is the recipient of an NSF CAREER Award, an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, and the ACS Early-Career Award in Theoretical Chemistry (2023).