A liquid computer can run more than 100 billion different simple programs using strands of DNA, research shows.
Beijing: “DNA computer” is a new dimension in the world of computing, in which hardware is developed with the help of molecular biology, biochemistry and DNA, and DNA itself is assembled into circuits to perform computing. are
A practical experiment by Fei Wang and colleagues at Shanghai Jiaotong University in China showed that a liquid computer could run more than 100 billion different simple programs using strands of DNA.
This is because when you enter a command on a traditional digital computer, it directs the electrons to follow a specific path on the silicon chip. These circuit configurations each correspond to different mathematical operations.
But in a computer built with the help of biochemistry and molecular biology, DNA molecules act as wires and instruct the wires to be arranged in specific ways, creating versatile biological computer circuits.
To replace these circuits and wiring with DNA, Wang and his team at Jiaotong University combined small segments of DNA into larger structures that can be used to form circuit components, such as wires, or to make the wires into different configurations. can work for
Wang and his team filled tubes with DNA strands and a buffer fluid and linked them together by mixing them into larger molecules through a chemical reaction. Thus this great feat was accomplished.
The researchers also equipped all the molecules with fluorescence markers so they could track how parts of the circuit glowed based on what it was doing.
In this experiment, Wang and his team connected three DPGAs containing 500 DNA strands to create a circuit that solves quadratic equations. Similarly constructed a circuit for quadratic equations.
In these circuits they included molecules of a specific shape and a number that participated in a chemical reaction with these molecules. This chemical reaction resulted in a circuit similar to the moving electrons.
The results of each circuit were the molecules produced by the last reaction. Researchers can read them by measuring their fluorescent brightness.
A DNA computer can tell you if your drinking water is contaminated. These can store disease data and be useful in early diagnosis of diseases. These computers will also revolutionize the field of health and research.
Remember that the first DNA computer was invented in 1997 by Leonard Adelman, a computer scientist at the University of Southern California.
