Inferring Flows of Energy and Information in Molecular Machines

Synopsis

Molecular machines transduce free energy between different forms throughout all living organisms. While truly machines in their own right, unlike their macroscopic counterparts molecular machines are characterized by stochastic fluctuations, overdamped dynamics, and soft components, and operate far from thermodynamic equilibrium. In addition, information is a relevant free-energy resource for molecular machines, leading to new modes of operation for nanoscale engines. Towards the objective of engineering synthetic nanomachines, an important goal is to understand how molecular machines transduce free energy to perform their functions in biological systems. In this talk I will give an accessible introduction to the nonequilibrium thermodynamics of free-energy transduction within molecular machines, with a focus on quantifying energy and information flows between their components. I will then present a collection of tools I have developed for thermodynamic inference, which shed light on the internal thermodynamics of molecular machines using limited experimental data. Finally, I will explore what we can learn from viewing molecular machines through this lens.