Researchers at microsoft have deveoped algorithms and software tools that could be used by biologists in order to reprogram DNA and create more complex behaviors in living cells. Synthetic biologists, designers, researchers are at work on giving life to far-fetched ideas, such as creating an item of clothing with medicinal properties that would help fight cancer, or develop a building material that repaired itself or began biodegrading at a prescribed moment.

All these are part of a process called biofabrication. At its most basic level, biofabrication is about manipulating the tiny computational engines that exist within living cells, and using them to either generate new behaviors at the cellular level, or to generate materials with desired properties.

Many of those involved in biofabrication are in New York City today for the first annual Biofabricate conference. Among those on hand are researchers from Microsoft.

Andrew Phillips, who heads up the Bio Computation group at Microsoft Research’s Cambridge lab, presented at Biofabricate on some of his team’s latest work, which is all about developing algorithms and software tools that his team and fellow biologists could use to reprogram DNA and create more complex behaviors in living cells.

Among the tools that the Bio Computation team created is a simulator that takes a step toward enabling synthetic biologists to engineer DNA code.

Synthetic biology aims at producing novel biological systems to carry out some desired and well-defined functions. An ultimate dream is to design these systems at a high level of abstraction using engineering-based tools and programming languages, press a button, and have the design translated to DNA sequences that can be synthesised and put to work in living cells.

Phillips describes his research as expanding Microsoft’s expertise in silicon-based computing and software programming experiences to include biological computing and the reprogramming of DNA. Essentially, it would be like creating the computational biology version of Visual Studio, the company’s software development tool.

The programming language allows logical interactions between potentially undetermined proteins and genes to be expressed in a modular manner. Programs can be translated by a compiler into sequences of biological parts, a process which relies on logic programming and prototype databases containing known biological parts and protein interactions. Programs can also be translated to reactions, allowing simulations to be carried out. The language is a first step towards the automatic translation of high-level behavioural designs to low-level DNA code.

Microsoft Research Visiting Artist, Erin Smith, has made a speculative design study intended to provoke conversation around this speculative future in terms of design, use, and possible implications of bio integrated wearable devices. Smith displayed some of her work at Biofabricate, including an amulet designed to help fight cancer.

Most recently, Smith also turned heads with the creation of a wedding dress made of fungus.