BioTech

Could you imagine using a robot to maintain and improve your mental well-being? This research talk focuses on how robots could be designed to help us with well-being at home, university, or at the workplace. The talk touches on several research studies examining different aspects of robots for well-being: their behavior, interactions, appearance and ethics.

Imagine a future where robots become our confidants, understanding and responding to our emotions, engineered to offer emotional support through meaningful interactions. In this talk, I'll share insights into our unique communication with robots and its profound impact on our well-being. We'll explore the intersection of technology and psychology that enables us to express ourselves to robots, highlighting their role in enhancing emotional health. This session will illuminate the potential of robots in social settings, offering an exciting glimpse into the future of human-robot relationships.

Reprogramming cells is crucial for healthcare and biotechnology, but their complexity makes this task challenging. But could we sidestep this challenge? One solution would be to create “synthetic cells”, fully artificial microrobots designed to replicate useful functions of biological cells, without being alive. Because synthetic cells are built from a small set of molecules, they are much easier to program and could underpin powerful new technological solutions. In this talk Lorenzo will discuss the concept and potential applications of synthetic cells, and how we try to build them using DNA Lego.

Currently the diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder (BD) and Major Depression (MDD) is based on the subjective reporting of symptoms which are evaluated through clinical interviews. Unfortunately, around 40% of BD patients are initially misdiagnosed as MDD and the average time until a correct diagnosis is achieved is 7.5 – 12 years.

In this talk, Sabine reports findings on a new diagnostic approach to improve the correct diagnosis of BD, combining an online questionnaire, which assesses symptoms and demographic patient characteristics, with a biomarker test using self-collected dried blood spots.