Nanobioscientists like Mike Simpson aim to harness or imitate
the complex abilities of bacteria and other single cells to make
implantable sensors and actuating devices. Put a biologist, a
physical scientist, and an electrical engineer in the same room,
and you have a recipe for an interesting collaboration in
nanobioscience. Become a fly on a wall of that room and you
might hear statements common to systems biology, invented by
physical scientists applying systems analysis tools to
biological problems. And you might learn a little about
synthetic biology— methods for applying biology's lessons to
device design. What you might hear in that room: "Living cells
work using the information processing of gene circuits and
networks." "We need to find out how these circuits and networks
are built and interconnected to make cells and organisms
function." "Let's put the intelligence in genes on an electronic
chip." "Our funding agencies want us to create engineered
systems that closely mimic the size and functional co