Professor Tegnér is interested in decoding molecular circuits of living systems with special reference to collective dynamics of single cells and populations thereof. Our assumption is that adaptive molecular circuits in living systems hold secrets to new properties beyond what is readily apparent from the fundamental equations of matter. Using T-cells, of fundamental importance for human health, as a model system, Professor Tegnér's team practices an integrative experimental and computational approach, guided by theory, asking: what defines the identity of a cell? what are rules and dynamical equations governing genomic and cellular circuits? how are such circuits regulated and to what extent can they be reprogrammed? ​ Professor Tegnér and his team are intrigued by the fundamental challenge of discovering principles of natural adaptive computation, essentially protecting living organisms from lapse into atomic chaos. Such algorithms, inspired from living systems, could be harnessed in the design of novel technologies, innovations, medical applications, and ultimately in crafting general reasoning systems.​

Epigenetics, Functional Biology, Genomics, Applied Mathematics and Computational Science, Computational Bioscience, Computer Science