Is this the future? The Chinese present a computer with DNA
Scientists from China have designed an integrated circuit based on DNA structures. About 30 years ago, an American scientist Leonard Adleman and other researchers worked on this type of solution, and now the Chinese have decided to implement this idea. Is this what the future will look like?
Sep 27, 2023 | updated: 9:19 AM EDT, October 5, 2023
Theoretically, Leonard Adelman approached the concept of a DNA computer in his article for "Science" magazine in 1994. Subsequently, in 1997, Animesh Ray and Mitsu Ogihara from the University of Rochester developed the first DNA logic gates. The first simple DNA computer appeared in 2002 and was constructed under the direction of Ehud Shapiro at the Weizmann University. This computer could diagnose a cancer cell and administer medication to it. From 2003 to 2006, at the University of Columbia and the University of New Mexico, work was done on an advanced computer that could play tic-tac-toe, but calculating subsequent moves took the computer a long time.
Chinese DNA computer
The Chinese have decided to unlock the potential dormant in this technology, which previous projects did not develop. They designed a DNA integrated circuit, in which logic gates can create up to 100 billion circuits, significantly expanding the possibilities of conducting various kinds of calculations. The research team put particular emphasis on the programmability and scalability of the device in this project, which will allow it to be a general-purpose tool, not a machine designed for only one task.
Scientists became interested in short segments of DNA that could combine to form larger structures. The Chinese obtained these segments by mixing strands of DNA with a buffer solution. The circuits that turned out to be too extensive, researchers, in turn, divided into smaller component parts.
DNA computer possibilities from China
The circuits that the Chinese have programmed are used, among other things, to solve quadratic equations and roots. So far, these are not particularly spectacular operations, but they prove the potential of the DNA computer. Scientists talk about using their constructions, for example, for diagnosing diseases.
They particularly note the fact that, depending on the size of the circuit, they recorded very little signal attenuation, which gives hope that this type of computer will have significant capabilities to modify and scale it to larger sizes, and perhaps even be able to create a network with other computers.
