Semiconductor Synthetic Biology for Information Processing and Storage Technologies

The National Science Foundation (NSF), through its Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS) in the Directorate for Engineering (ENG), Division of Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF) in the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), and Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB) in the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO), has established a partnership with the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), through its Global Research Collaboration (GRC) program, and the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) to announce a solicitation on the "Semiconductor Synthetic Biology for Information Processing and Storage Technologies (SemiSynBio)".  Future ultra-low-energy computing, storage and signal-processing systems can be built on principles derived from organic systems that are at the intersection of chemistry, biology, and engineering.  New information technologies can be envisioned that are based on biological principles and that use biomaterials in the fabrication of devices and components; it is anticipated that  these information technologies could enable stored data to be retained for more than 100 years and storage capacity to be 1,000 times greater than current capabilities.   These could also facilitate compact computers that will operate with substantially lower power than today’s computers.  Research in support of these goals can have a significant impact on advanced information processing and storage technologies. This focused solicitation seeks high-risk/high-return interdisciplinary research on novel concepts and enabling technologies that will address the scientific issues and technological challenges associated with the underpinnings of synthetic biology integrated with semiconductor technology. This research will foster interactions among various disciplines including biology, engineering, physics, chemistry, materials science, computer science, and information science that will enable heretofore-unanticipated breakthroughs as well as meet educational goals.