DEF CON Safe Mode Red Team Village - Noa Novogroder - Back to the Future CompSci and System Biology

Which creature implemented code injection 1.5 billion years before any computer malware did? What is the decoding algorithm being used in each of our cells to run the program written in our genes? As computer scientists, we are pushing the edge to develop disruptive technologies for the future. In fact, we can learn from an industry that has been evolving since long before humankind existed: The evolution of biological systems. With our proposal we hope to show the incredible parallels between bacteria and computer malware, the complex algorithms implemented in each of our cells, and how each plays a pivotal role in furthering the research of the other. This lecture will take the audience on an educational journey through both disciplines. This will foster interdisciplinary collaboration and inspire innovative solutions to future challenges for instance in the context of synthetic biology (i.e. creating artificial life), or personalized medicine (i.e. machine learning to treat patients). We are made up of trillions of computational devices. The cells within our body are information-processing units, with memory, storage, cooling and communication devices. Hardware for executable programs was very successfully shaped during the evolution of uncountable biological entities. We are presenting a wormhole between the two parallel universes of computer science and systems biology. A leap through space and time will allow us to connect the evolution of life with recent advances in computer science. An intimate exchange between the computational and the biological spheres is a prerequisite for future generations to work together on aspects of gene editing, robotics and artificial intelligence. As an incentive, we will perform a small quiz during our lecture with attractive prizes. It is our firm belief that we are the right team to foster discussions on life-inspired computer (r)evolution.