{"id":9644,"date":"2025-07-08T10:47:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T01:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.elsi.jp\/?post_type=news_events&#038;p=9644"},"modified":"2025-07-09T13:08:33","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T04:08:33","slug":"molecular_mashup","status":"publish","type":"news_events","link":"https:\/\/www.elsi.jp\/en\/news_events\/events\/2025\/molecular_mashup\/","title":{"rendered":"Molecular mashup: a conference to write a theory of composition for biomolecules"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In August 2025, researchers from ELSI, Arizona State University, and the Santa Fe Institute will convene a conference titled &#8216;Assembly Theory for Folded Matter.&#8217; Organised as a working group, the event will bring together protein biochemists, physicists, and computer scientists to explore how large biological polymers like proteins and RNA are constructed from reusable building blocks.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-9646\" src=\"https:\/\/www.elsi.jp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/FY2025_014.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.elsi.jp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/FY2025_014.png 600w, https:\/\/www.elsi.jp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/FY2025_014-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.elsi.jp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/FY2025_014-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 70%; margin: 0px auto;\">Diverse protein architectures can be built up around shared structure motifs. The shared structure motifs are shown in color and the surrounding protein is shown in grey. The red sphere is a conserved water molecule that stabilises the motif. Credit: Liam M. Longo<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\nThe group will apply &#8216;Assembly Theory&#8217;, a framework developed to describe how complex structures emerge through reuse, to the problem of biomolecular composition. Participants will investigate how motifs are arranged and reused to create the functional complexity observed in nature\u2014much like how musical themes are sampled, reshaped, and remixed.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nLeveraging recent advances in machine learning, the working group aims to uncover the &#8220;grammar&#8221; behind molecular structures, revealing deeper insights into evolution, molecular design, and the origins of biological novelty.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Dates: 18-21 August 2025<br \/>\nLocation: Collins Conference Room, Santa Fe Institute, New Mexico, USA<br \/>\nOrganisers: Eric Smith (ELSI, SFI), Liam M. Longo (ELSI), Harrison Smith (ELSI), and Cole Mathis (ASU)<br \/>\nParticipation: By invitation only<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nThe organisers are grateful to Insight Venture Partners for their support. More information: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.santafe.edu\/events\/assembly-theory-for-folded-matter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.santafe.edu\/events\/assembly-theory-for-folded-matter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":9645,"template":"","news_events_cat":[6],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elsi.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_events\/9644"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elsi.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elsi.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news_events"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elsi.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elsi.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news_events_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elsi.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_events_cat?post=9644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}