Call for Papers

Molecular Communications (MC) is a fundamental means of information exchange ubiquitously observed in nature. It has recently attracted the attention of researchers who have been working in information and communication technologies (ICT) and striving to create cooperative ‘nanonetworks’ of artificial nanomachines, which can be interfaced with or immersed in natural biological systems. Application of ICT tools to this natural modality of communications has laid the foundations of bio-inspired, engineered MC systems, and also contributed to the understanding of natural MC networks.

It is no wonder that such fundamental form of communications has been a topic of significant interest in many diverse research fields beyond ICT, such as synthetic biology, systems chemistry, micro/nanorobotics, network medicine, biophysics and physiology, biochemical sensing, lab- and organ-on-chips, bio-interfaces, molecular and biological computing, drug discovery, design and delivery. However, different languages are typically adopted by different fields to refer to the same phenomenon that the ICT researchers call molecular communications, such as chemical communications, biological/cell signaling, interaction networks, which all fundamentally denote information transfer via mass transport and/or biochemical reactions and interactions.

Despite the significant overlap in the problem and the application domain, not only the language but also the research methodologies and the solution approaches are diverse, partly due to the apparent lack of strong links between different research communities. On the other hand, closer interactions between these disciplines can create important synergies that can help collaboratively target more challenging research problems and develop unprecedented applications, where the power of true interdisciplinarity is unleashed. These interactions can also help better identify the common motifs in the heterogeneous sea of molecular communication problems and scenarios comprising both biotic and abiotic systems, and help reframe and standardize the way we approach biological and bio-inspired communications in the hope of enabling a common scientific and engineering language.

The aim of this Special Issue is to facilitate such interactions by bringing together the contributions of prominent researchers from diverse fields that share a common denominator with the ICT approach to MC. Reflecting different perspectives on natural and engineered molecular communications, and appreciating the diversity of approaches and methodologies, the Special Issue will ultimately help identify the potential interaction pathways between different research areas and communities, that can lead to fruitful collaborations and synergy.

To this end, we solicit original contributions (technical or position/survey/tutorial/perspective articles) on a very diverse set of topics including but not limited to:

• Molecular communication among synthetic cells, and between synthetic and natural cells
• Molecular communication among nanoparticles, and between nanoparticles and natural/synthetic cells
• Collective micro/nanorobotic swarms and active matter based on molecular communications
• Physical limits to communication, sensing, and information processing in natural and synthetic bio/nano systems
• Network medicine, communication and network biomarkers of diseases
• Engineering of protein-protein and other molecular interactions, de novo design of proteins and artificial receptors for sensing and molecular communications
• Semantic information in biological networks
• Bio-interfaces (e.g., neural interfaces) relying on molecular interactions, redox reactions, and ionic carriers
• New sensing techniques and chemical & biosensor architectures targeting dynamic bio/chemical signals
• New nanomaterials and device architectures for bio-nano interfaces, and micro/nanomachines & molecular machines capable of molecular communications
• Drug design techniques exploiting molecular interactions, network-based approaches to drug discovery
• Smart drug delivery systems and techniques
• Biological and molecular computing
• Signaling aspects of lab-on-a-chip, organ-on-a-chip, multi-organ-on-a-chip, body-on-a-chip, disease-on-a-chip applications

Submission Guidelines

Prospective authors should submit their manuscripts following the IEEE TMBMC guidelines. Authors should submit a manuscript trough Manuscript Central.

Important Dates

Manuscript Submission Deadline: 31 March 2023 (Extended Deadline)
First Notification: 30 April 2023
Acceptance Notification: 30 May 2023
Final Manuscript Due: 30 June 2023
Publication Date: September 2023

Guest Editors

Murat Kuscu
Koc University, Turkey

Pasquale Stano
University of Salento, Italy

Malcolm Egan
University of Lyon, Inria, INSA-Lyon, CITI, France

Michael T. Barros
University of Essex, UK

Bige D. Unluturk
Michigan State University, USA

Gregory F. Payne
University of Maryland, USA