Debugging DNA, or how to prescribe drugs with code

SPEAKER: Dr Imogen Wright, Co-founder and CSO of http://www.hyraxbio.co.za

Each of us carries a programming language around with us every day, in every cell in our bodies. Unfortunately, we don't really understand the compiler yet, but we're starting to learn the most important bugs and features: the mutations that cause disease in humans, and drug resistance in viruses and bacteria.

Sifting through billions of pieces of DNA to find a few salient pieces of information is our job at Hyrax Biosciences, and leads us into some of the deepest parts of computer science. In this talk, I'll unpack how DNA works, and how we can use some dynamic programming magic to turn that knowledge into a life-saving drug resistance test for HIV or TB.