The Cronin Group

Research in the Cronin Group is motivated by the fascination for complex chemical systems, and the desire to construct complex functional molecular architectures that are not based on biologically derived building blocks.


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Protocells with Unpredictable Complexity Tamed by Artificial Intelligence

In new Cronin Group research published in the journal PNAS, a robot equipped with artificial intelligence was able to build unstable oil-in-water droplets as models for new artificial life forms. It was also able to predict their properties ahead of time even though conventional physical methods failed to do so.

The project is part of a set of experiments to explore the formation of artificial life forms that are based upon new building blocks not found in nature, as well as the development of programmable formulations that could have applications in areas as diverse as drug delivery or new functional materials.

The droplet-robot uses machine learning and evolution and was designed by Prof Cronin and his team to autonomously create a range of oil-in-water droplets and evaluate their behaviour using image recognition. By varying the range of different chemicals making up the oil and water formulations, the droplets could be engineered to have different desirable properties. Once the new properties were discovered they could then be manufactured again, on demand, using a digital code.

Professor Cronin said: “This work is exciting as it shows that we are able to use machine learning and a novel robotic platform to understand the system in ways that cannot be done using conventional laboratory methods, including the discovery of ‘swarm’ like group behaviour of the droplets, akin to flocking birds. Achieving lifelike behaviours such as this are important in our mission to make new lifeforms, and these droplets may be considered ‘protocells’ – simplified models of living cells.”

University of Glasgow press release

Link to Publication

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Prof. Leroy (Lee) Cronin

Prof Leroy (Lee) Cronin
Regius Chair of Chemistry
Advanced Research Centre (ARC)
Level 5, Digital Chemistry
University of Glasgow
11 Chapel Lane
Glasgow G11 6EW
Tel: +44 141 330 6650
Email: lee.cronin@glasgow.ac.uk

Latest Publications

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502. Delocalized, asynchronous, closed-loop discovery of organic laser emitters

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501. Investigating and Quantifying Molecular Complexity Using Assembly Theory and Spectroscopy

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500. Electron density-based GPT for optimization and suggestion of host–guest binders

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499. Evidence of Selection in Mineral Mediated Polymerization Reactions Executed in a Robotic Chemputer System

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498. A programmable hybrid digital chemical information processor based on the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction

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497. An integrated self-optimizing programmable chemical synthesis and reaction engine

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496. Autonomous execution of highly reactive chemical transformations in the Schlenkputer

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495. Universal chemical programming language for robotic synthesis repeatability

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494. Bringing digital synthesis to Mars

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493. An Autonomous Electrochemical Discovery Robot that Utilises Probabilistic Algorithms: Probing the Redox Behaviour of Inorganic Materials


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