The second Talk of the CUFSAA-NA Distinguished Speaker Series organized in association with the Faculty of Science, University of Colombo will be delivered by Prof. AP de Silva on July 07th 2022, 10:30AM Eastern Time (July 07th 2022, 8:00pm Sri Lankan Time). The details of the talk and ways to join and listen to the talk are described below.
Title: From Chemistry to Medical Diagnostics and Information Processing
Brief Bio: 
Prof. AP de Silva received his early education in chemistry at the University of Colombo. This was followed by PhD and postdoctoral research in photochemistry at Queen’s University of Belfast. After working for 6 years in Colombo, he returned to Belfast where he has remained. He wrote the book ‘Molecular Logic-based Computation’, which is also available in Japanese and Chinese.
Abstract: One of the main principles underlying fluorescent sensors is based on PET (photoinduced electron transfer). A switching ‘on’ of fluorescence in response to chemical and biochemical analytes can be designed in this way. Since its generalization in Colombo, Sri Lanka, it has grown to involve >1130 laboratories worldwide. Some of these sensors are serving in hospitals and ambulances, performing blood diagnostics. These form a half-billion-dollar industry (www.optimedical.com). Other sensors operate inside living cells or near membranes, some of which are too small for silicon-based wireless devices to enter. Our introduction of molecular logic gates from Belfast, Northern Ireland (following inspiration in Colombo, Sri Lanka), allows us to build more complex sensors and micro-object identification systems. Even human-scale computations, e.g. edge detection of objects, are now achieved by molecules. >1430 laboratories have contributed to this field. A short video is available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLGnZDP5Ecg.
On Demand videos are available via FB Live and YouTube Live. Please use one of the links below to access and view the recorded talk video.