Strands May Replace Computers And Chips

Published:2010/11/22 21:14:00 Author:Michelle From:SeekIC

The element silicon is so closely identified with computers that most people would be likely to associate it more readily with California’s high-tech valley than with the periodic table. But such thinking may soon have to be radically revised, as high-speed computation moves beyond chips and machines to include the tools of biochemistry and genetics: test tubes, slides, solutions, even DNA.

DNA is present in every living organism, and the appeal of the molecule as a supercomputer mechanism lies in its demonstrated ability to store a vast amount of information, indeed, all of the instructions for replicating life. Although the chemistry set won’t be replacing your PC anytime soon, two groups of scientists demonstrated last month how these information-laden molecules might perform calculations in future computers.

In January, scientists at the University of Wisconsin reported in the journal Nature that they had found a way to perform a simple calculation using strands of DNA that had been attached to a gold-plated surface. Previous experiments with DNA computing had allowed the DNA to float freely in a test tube, but Lloyd Smith, a chemist and leader of the Wisconsin research team, hopes his method will allow the wet chemical steps required for a calculation to be automated. "It’s a route to scaling up DNA computing to larger problems," says Smith of his experiment.

Although Landweber is optimistic about the ability of the technique to find the right answers with 100 percent accuracy in the future, she and other researchers are quick to point out that the field is in its infancy compared with conventional computing methods and that for many applications, siliconbased microchips will always be better. What’s really needed, according to most researchers in the field, is a "killer" application particularly suited for the way DNA computing solves problems. Such real-world Problems might involve the encryption of large amounts of military information, or they might inv0lve some combination of silicon and DNA computing. Related chip is:2SC3357 .

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