DNA Computers
Ranked #42,086 in Computers & Electronics, #750,667 overall
Computers based on DNA
You are reading this on a computer that uses silicon circuits and electricity. Now imagine a different kind of computer, one which uses DNA for its circuits, hardware, and power. Imagine being able to beat supercomputers in speed and power with a device the size of your thumbnail. Imagine incorporating a cancer-hunting computer into your own cells.
This is DNA computing.
Image credit: James Tan Chin Choy. License: CC-by-sa 2.0.
This is DNA computing.
Image credit: James Tan Chin Choy. License: CC-by-sa 2.0.
Concepts and solutions in DNA computing
- Bioinformatics is the field of technology that includes DNA computing as well as gene chips, gene finding, and many other technological applications that meld biology and information technology.
Computational genes are DNA-based computers that can be incorporated directly into genes. Scientists hope one day to use computational genes to detect and treat diseases such as cancer and diabetes.
DNA sequencing is technology that makes DNA computers possible.
Gene chips, or DNA microarrays, are arrays consisting of many tiny "spots" or probes of DNA. They already have a variety of uses, and may one day be used to read or store DNA computer output.
Hybridization is the tendency of a strand of DNA to pair up with a strand with a complementary or "opposite" sequence. Hybridization makes DNA computing possible because it allows connections between parts of DNA strands.
Miniaturization is one area in which DNA computers are expected to excel. DNA circuits are molecules, and a DNA-based computer with many circuits would be far tinier than an equivalent silicon-based computer.
Parallel computers perform many operations simultaneously and are able to outperform conventional computers at many tasks. DNA computers utilize parallel computing.
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is a method of synthesizing DNA that can be used in manufacturing DNA computing.
Quaternary, or base 4 math, is the type of math used by DNA computers. It is base 4 because there are four "letters" used in DNA: adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine, represented by the letters A, C, G, T.
Image credit: Mash DnArt. License: CC-by 2.0.
DNA Computing Resources
Article Links
- An Overview of DNA Computing
- The advantages and potential of DNA computers
- How DNA Computers Work
- The first DNA computer was able to solve a simple math problem. This is an explanation of it worked.
- The History of the DNA Computer
- The first DNA-based computer was invented in 1994. This article outlines the historical discoveries in DNA computing technology that followed, and maps the future of DNA computers.
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