Paths to Progress in Molecular Nanotechnology
Protocol Labs and Foresight Institute are excited to invite you to apply to a 5-day mini-workshop series to celebrate LabWeek, PL’s decentralized conference to further public goods. The theme of the series, Paths to Progress, is aimed at (re)-igniting long overdue progress in longevity bio, molecular nanotechnology, neurotechnology, crypto & AI, and space through emerging decentralized, open, and technology-enabled funding mechanisms.
LabWeek also includes many additional events focused on Public Goods Funding, Sustainability, and Decentralized Science. Register and learn more at labweek.io/24-pg.
This mini-workshop is focused on Paths to Progress in Molecular Nanotechnology:
Molecular manufacturing, in its most ambitious incarnation, would use programmable tools to bring together molecules to make precisely bonded components in order to build larger structures from the ground up. This would enable general-purpose manufacturing of new materials and machines, at a fraction of current waste and price. We are currently nowhere near this ambitious goal. However, recent progress in sub-fields such as DNA nanotechnology, protein-engineering, STM, and AFM provide possible building blocks for the construction of a v1 of molecular manufacturing; the molecular 3D printer. Let’s explore the state of the art and what type of innovation mechanisms could bridge the valley of death: how might we update the original Nanotech roadmap; is a tech tree enough? how might we fund the highly interdisciplinary progress needed to succeed: FRO vs. DAO?
Presentations thus far include:
Adam Marblestone, Convergent Research: What’s needed to kick-start molecular 3D printing
Allison Duettmann, Foresight Institute: Interdisciplinary collaboration toward molecular 3D printing
Christine Peterson, Foresight Institute: The history of nanotechnology
Jeremy Barton, nanotechnology scientist: A path to Atomically Precise Manufacturing
Boris Fain, Freecurve Labs: Protein-folding and engineering as a path to progress in Molecular Nanotechnology
Grigory Tikhomirov, UC Berkeley: Towards DNA-based Molecular Manufacturing for Biotech and Electronics
Reto Stamm, Root Applied Science: Digital optical control of biochemistry
Short presentations will highlight science and technology opportunities as well as new tools for finding and funding progress. We’ll break into groups to deepdive on your shared interests and close with plenary report-outs to map progress opportunities to enablers. Our question is: what could this community build to close the current progress gaps?
Our workshop capacity is extremely limited. If you’d like to attend, please consider applying soon. We hope you join us to explore new R&D/DeSci technologies for advancing technological progress for the benefit of life.
To apply to the other workshops on bio, nano, neuro, crypto, AI in this series, you can do via the full Paths to Progress @LabWeek events calendar.
For those who want more, learnings from the LabWeek workshop series will feed directly into Foresight’s 2024 technical workshops – longevity workshop, neuro workshop, crypto AI workshop, nano workshop, space workshop – with a session on new R&D/DeSci funding technologies for advancing the respective area.