ABSTRACT

Biological computers are special types of microcomputers that are specifically

designed to be used for medical applications. The biological computer is an implantable
device that is mainly used for tasks like monitoring the body's activities or inducing
therapeutic effects, all at the molecular or cellular level.

The biological computer is made up of RNA (Ribonucleic Acid - an important

part in the synthesis of protein from amino acids), DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid -
nucleic acid molecule that contains the important genetic information that is used by the
body for the construction of cells; it's the blue print for all living organisms), and
proteins.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION
2. THE WORLDS SMALLEST COMPUTER
3. DOCTOR IN A CELL
4. THE BIOLOGICAL BITS AND BYTES OF DNA COMPUTING
o Guinness Book of World Records
5. COMPUTERS & BIOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY
o Computing Device to Serve As Basis for Biological Computer
6. COMPUTING WITH LEECHES
o Leechulator
7. LIVING COMPUTERS VS. TODAY'S HARDWARE
8. DNA COMPUTING
o Hamilton path problem
o Working principle
o Turing machine
o Output Display
9. DNA'S LIMITLESS POTENTIAL
o Molecular-Level Treatment
o Computing Comes to Life
o Biological 'computer' fits inside a drop of water
10. ADVANTAGES
11. DISADVANTAGES
12. APPLICATIONS
13. CONCLUSION
o Biological software for computers of the future
14. REFERENCES

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 INTRODUCTION

Biological computers have emerged as an interdisciplinary field that draws

together molecular biology, chemistry, computer science and mathematics. The highly
predictable hybridization chemistry of DNA, the ability to completely control the length
and content of oligonucleotides, and the wealth of enzymes available for modification
of the DNA, make the use of nucleic acids an attractive candidate for all of these
nanoscale applications

A DNA computer has been used for the first time to find the only correct
answer from over a million possible solutions to a computational problem. Leonard
Adleman of the University of Southern California in the US and colleagues used
different strands of DNA to represent the 20 variables in their problem, which could be
the most complex task ever solved without a conventional computer. The researchers
believe that the complexity of the structure of biological molecules could allow DNA
computers to outperform their electronic counterparts in future.

Scientists have previously used DNA computers to crack computational

problems with up to nine variables, which involves selecting the correct answer from
512 possible solutions. But now Adlemans team has shown that a similar technique can
solve a problem with 20 variables, which has 220 - or 1 048 576 possible solutions.

Adleman and colleagues chose an exponential time problem, in which each

extra variable doubles the amount of computation needed. This is known as an NP-
complete problem, and is notoriously difficult to solve for a large number of variables.
Other NP-complete problems include the travelling salesman problem in which a
salesman has to find the shortest route between a number of cities and the calculation
of interactions between many atoms or molecules.
Adleman and co-workers expressed their problem as a string of 24 clauses,
each of which specified a certain combination of true and false for three of the 20
variables. The team then assigned two short strands of specially encoded DNA to all 20
variables, representing true and false for each one.

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 In the experiment, each of the 24 clauses is represented by a gel-filled glass cell.
The strands of DNA corresponding to the variables and their true or false state in
each clause were then placed in the cells.

Each of the possible 1,048,576 solutions were then represented by much longer
strands of specially encoded DNA, which Adlemans team added to the first cell. If a
long strand had a subsequence that complemented all three short strands, it bound to
them. But otherwise it passed through the cell.

To move on to the second clause of the formula, a fresh set of long strands was
sent into the second cell, which trapped any long strand with a subsequence
complementary to all three of its short strands. This process was repeated until a
complete set of long strands had been added to all 24 cells, corresponding to the 24
clauses. The long strands captured in the cells were collected at the end of the
experiment, and these represented the solution to the problem.

THE WORLDS SMALLEST COMPUTER

The worlds smallest computer (around a trillion can fit in a drop of water)
might one day go on record again as the tiniest medical kit. Made entirely of biological
molecules, this computer was successfully programmed to identify in a test tube
changes in the balance of molecules in the body that indicate the presence of certain
cancers, to diagnose the type of cancer, and to react by producing a drug molecule to
fight the cancer cells.

DOCTOR IN A CELL

In previous biological computers produced input, output and software are all
composed of DNA, the material of genes, while DNA-manipulating enzymes are used
as hardware. The newest versions input apparatus is designed to assess
concentrations of specific RNA molecules, which may be overproduced or under

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produced, depending on the type of cancer. Using pre-programmed medical knowledge,
the computer then makes its diagnosis based on the detected RNA levels. In response to
a cancer diagnosis, the output unit of the computer can initiate the controlled release of
a single-stranded DNA molecule that is known to interfere with the cancer cells
activities, causing it to self-destruct.

In one series of test-tube experiments, the team programmed the computer to

identify RNA molecules that indicate the presence of prostate cancer and, following a
correct diagnosis, to release the short DNA strands designed to kill cancer cells.
Similarly, they were able to identify, in the test tube, the signs of one form of lung
cancer. One day in the future, they hope to create a doctor in a cell, which will be able
to operate inside a living body, spot disease and apply the necessary treatment before
external symptoms even appear.

The neuron is a functional unit of the body's nervous system that transmits
electro-chemical impulses through the system. These electrochemical impulses are the
way information is exchanged in our bodies. Think of the neurons as phone or network
lines that make up the Internet and the electrochemical impulses as e-mail, and you get
idea. Just as e-mail is used to send messages between people, electrochemical impulses
are used to send message between different body parts

THE BIOLOGICAL BITS AND BYTES OF DNA COMPUTING

Computers use 1 or 0 and DNA uses 1 ,2 ,3 and four. Or in the geneticists jargon
A C T G. We are built of proteins , each protein is assembled from twenty different
building blocks called amino acids. The order in which these amino acids are assembled
is obtained from the sequence contained in DNA. I am told this leads to 64 different
combinations.

DNA computers take advantage of DNA's physical properties to

store information and perform calculations. In a traditional computer, data

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are represented by and stored as strings of zeros and ones. With a DNA computer, a
sequence of its four basic nucleotides adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine is
used to represent and store data on a strand of DNA. Calculations in a traditional
computer are performed by moving data into a processing unit where binary operations
are performed. Essentially, the operations turn miniaturized circuits off or on
corresponding to the zeros and ones that represent the string of data. In contrast, a DNA
computer uses the recombinative properties of DNA to perform operations.

Guinness Book of World Records

The computer is listed in the 2004 Guinness Book of World Records as the
world's smallest biological computing device. Prof Shapiro's device is a development of
a biological computer that he first built in 2001. DNA is the software of life: it carries
huge quantities of information, programs the operating system of every cell, controls
the growth of the whole organism and even supervises the making of the next
generation. The first biological computers were used to make mathematical
calculations. They may not outperform silicon-based technology in the world of
banking, aviation and databases, but the Weizmann team realised that they might be
agents of medical treatment.
They could be provided with specific `search and destroy' programmes,
administered as drugs, and delivered by the bloodstream to autonomously detect disease
in cells. They could even be used in late-stage cancer, to detect and prevent secondary
growths That is the dream. However, the biology in the latest experiments was hugely
simplified: the little machine identified cancer molecules in a sterile saline solution in a
laboratory under ideal conditions.

To actually track down and disable cancer cells in a human body, it would have
to survive the hurly-burly of proteins, lipids, polysaccharides and nucleic acids, any of
which could block or disable it. "There could be many reactions with many other
molecules that may be detrimental to either the computer or the cell in which it
operates,'' said Prof Shapiro.

COMPUTERS & BIOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY

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 The mathematics of DNA has a complexity of 2^64 and before you say no, try
to say 18446744073709551616 and mean it. The point of this is, the makers of the
chip that is at the heart of the common or garden PC are casting the dies for the next
generation of CPUs namely a 64 bit data bus. There are two ways of looking at
computer architecture. The simplest way to understand this , is to imagine a road and
imagine how many cars you could get to travel along it in an hour. To increase the
traffic on the road you either widen it or make the cars go faster or make smaller cars.
The next generation of personal computers will have a complexity matching our own. I
say this because of genetic algorithms. The fact that most of today's computers are
linked up via the internet makes it more likely that once change starts to happen, it will
happen fast .

There is an awful similarity between DNA and machine code. The complexity of
our machine code gets to the complexity of our DNA. 64 bit processors have twice the
exponental complexity 32 bit processors have.

This computer is able to run approximately one billion operations per second
with 99.8% accuracy. Astonishingly, one billion of these biological computers could fit
inside a drop of water!

COMPUTING DEVICE TO SERVE AS BASIS FOR BIOLOGICAL

COMPUTER

But their aim is to devise a new generation of fast and flexible computers that
can work out for themselves how to solve a problem, rather than having to be told
exactly what to do.

This computer may serve as a model in constructing a programmable computer

of subcellular size, that may be able to operate in the human body and interact with the
body's biochemical environment, thus having far-reaching biological and
pharmaceutical applications. Such a computer could sense anomalous biochemical
changes in the tissue and decide, based on its program, what drug to synthesize and
release in order to correct the anomaly.
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 The theoretical Turing machine consists of a potentially infinite tape divided
into cells, each of which can hold one symbol, a read/write head, and a control unit
which can be in one of a finite number of states. The operation of the machine is
governed by a finite set of rules that constitute its "software program." In each cycle the
machine reads the symbol in the cell located under the read/write head, writes a new
symbol in the cell, moves the read/write head one cell to the left or to the right, and
changes the control state, all according to its program rules. A Future Interactive
Biological Computer The computer design may allow it to respond to the availability
and to the relative concentrations of specific molecules in its environment, and to
construct program-defined polymers, releasing them into the environment. If
implemented using biomolecules, such a device may operate in the human body,
interacting with its biochemical environment in a program- controlled manner.

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 COMPUTING WITH LEECHES

Neurons are the body's wires that transmit signals in the brain and throughout
the nervous system. Putting neurons into semiconductor circuits could create the basis
for a new breed of computer-brainlike systems that finally live up to their name. Like
the brain, neurosilicon computers might find solutions on their own, with no need for
programmers to write explicit step-by-step instructions.

The researchers joined the neurons and linked them to a personal computer,
which sent signals representing different numbers to each cell. Using principles of
chaos theory, Ditto selectively stimulated the two neurons. From the chatterbox traffic
that followed, the PC extracted the correct answer to a simple addition problem.

Neurons only have to be directed toward the answer and they will work out their
own way of solving the problem, Ditto says. This is the first time invertebrate brain
cells have used chaos to do arithmetic, let alone communicate the results to humans.

Whats more, computer simulations by Ditto and Sudeshna Sinha at the Institute
of Mathematical Sciences in Madras, India, show that larger clusters of neurons should
also be able to do multiplication and Boolean logic operations, the underlying principle
of digital computers.

THE LEECHULATOR

A group of scientists from Emory University and Georgia Tech made a

calculator (called the "leech-ulator") with neurons taken from leeches. In normal
silicon computers, connections are made between the computer's chips only when the
programmer directs the connections to occur. However, in a biological computer the
neurons are able to connect on their own and are often said to be "thinking" by making
connections with their neighbors, possibly increasing computational power. Since the
processing power of the silicon chip is close to being maximized, the next generation
of computer technology may rely on the use of biological computing. A billion

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operations per second is impressive indeed, but when the prospect of massive neural
connectivity is considered, the speed is almost unfathomable.

The device the team has built can "think for itself" because the leech neurons are
able to form their own connections from one to another. Normal silicon computers only
make the connections they are told to by the programmer.

This flexibility means the biological computer works out it own way of solving
the problem. "With the neurons, we only have to direct them towards the answer and
they get it themselves," This approach to computing is particularly suited to pattern
recognition tasks like reading handwriting, which would take enormous amounts of
power to do well on a conventional computer.

The neurons are harnessed in a Petri dish by inserting micro-electrodes into

them. Each neuron has its own electrical activity and responds in its own way to an
electrical stimulus.

These features can be used to make each neuron represent a number.

Calculations are then performed by linking up the individual neurons. Leech neurons
are used because they have been extensively studied and are well understood. Though
much simpler, the neuron computer works in a similar way to the human brain.
Professor Ditto says a robot brain is his long-term aim, noting that conventional
supercomputers are far too big for a robot to carry around

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 Each neuron's electrical activity corresponds to a number

The "leech-ulator" demonstrates that the ability of neurons to make local

connections might be an advantage on which artificial intelligence could capitalize.

Living computer: interconnected leech neurons can add up

Bill Ditto views his computer wetware

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 LIVING COMPUTERS VS. TODAY'S HARDWARE

At this stage, Ditto says, it's just too early to tell if biological computers will
have inherent limitations. But he is optimistic that biosilicon systems can tackle
anything today's hardware can, plus sensory-based computing that only biological
"wetware" does with ease, such as understanding human language.

"We may ultimately be able to do it all with electronics and silicon," Ditto said."Right
now though we are using the living computer portion because we don't quite understand
how these neurons behave well enough to recreate them in silicon. So instead we are
using actual living tissue, which we know can do the job and do it very quickly."One of
the most enticing aspects of a living computer is its ability to recover, much like the
human body, and improve its performance on its own.

Another aspect of the living computer would involve its integration into
biological systems such as the human body. A bio-computer, interfacing into the
nervous system, could help people control robotic limbs or improve poor vision,
hearing or touch, Ditto said.

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 DNA COMPUTING

HAMILTON PATH PROBLEM

In the DNA computing approach to this problem, each city was represented by a
unique strand of DNA that stretched 20 nucleotides long. Each possible route between
any two cities was represented by another 20-nucleotide-long strand. This strand
connecting cities was also related to the nucleotide sequence of each city connected by
that route. For example, the route between City 1 and City 2 consisted of two sets of 10
nucleotides; the first 10 nucleotides on the strand's route complemented the last 10
nucleotides of City 1, while the second 10 nucleotides on the strand's route
complemented the first 10 nucleotides of City 2.

In this way, if strands for cities 1 and 2 came in proximity to the route 1-to-2
strand, the three strands would bind. To solve the traveling salesman problem, strands
representing all seven cities and strands representing all possible routes between any
two cities were placed in a test tube. The end result was a series of longer, recombined
strands. The correct answer was contained in a strand that started with City 1, ended
with City 7, contained the strands of all seven cities, and had no one city represented
more than one time in this longer strand. When the experiment was first done in 1994,
the complexity of finding the strand with the correct answer was considered a downside
to DNA computing.

DNA works in nature is a form of Turing Machine and such a machine can be
used to solve computational problems. He therefore devised a way of applying DNA
manipulation techniques to the "Hamilton Path Problem" - for several cities, some of
which are connected by non-stop flights, does a path exist to travel from A to B which
passes through every other city once and only once?

When the number of cities gets to around one hundred it could take hundreds of
years of conventional computer time to solve the problem, even with the most advanced
parallel processing available.

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 Adleman developed a method of manipulating DNA which, in effect, conducts
trillions of computations in parallel. Essentially he coded each city and each possible
flight as a sequence of 4 components. For example he coded one city as GCAG and
another as TCGG.

The incredible thing is that once the DNA sequences had been created he simply
"just added water" to initiate the "computation": The DNA strands then began their
highly efficient process of creating new sequences based on the input sequences.

If an "answer" to the problem for a given set of inputs existed then it should
amongst these trillions of sequences. The next (difficult) step was to isolate the
"answer" sequences. To do this Adleman used a range of DNA tools. For example, one
technique can test for the correct start and end sequences, indicating that the strand has
a solution for the start and end cities. Another step involved selecting only those strands
which have the correct length, based on the total number of cities in the problem
(remembering that each city is visited once).

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Finally another technique was used to determine if the sequence for each city was
included in the strand. If any strands were left after these processes then:
a solution to the problem existed, and
the answer(s) would be in the sequence(s) on the remaining strands.

His attempt at solving a seven-city, 14 flight map took seven days of lab work.
This particular problem can be manually solved in a few minutes but the key point
about Adleman's work is that it will work on a much larger scale, when manual or
conventional computing techniques become overwhelmed. "The DNA computer
provides enormous parallelism... in one fiftieth of a teaspoon of solution approximately
10 to the power 14 DNA 'flight numbers' were simultaneously concatenated in about
one second".

This approach to computing is particularly suited to pattern recognition tasks

like reading handwriting, which would take enormous amounts of power to do well on a
conventional computer.

WORKING PRINCIPLE

'The living cell contains incredible molecular machines that manipulate

information-encoding molecules such as DNA and RNA in ways that are fundamentally
very similar to computation,' says Prof. Shapiro of the Institute's Computer Science and
Applied Mathematics Department and the Biological Chemistry Department. 'Since we
don't know how to effectively modify these machines or create new ones just yet, the
trick is to find naturally existing machines that, when combined, can be steered to
actually compute.'

TURING MACHINE

A finite automaton that detects whether a list of 0's and 1's has an even number
of 1's. Benenson came up with a solution using DNA molecules and two naturally
occurring DNA-manipulating enzymes: Fok-I and Ligase. Operating much like a

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biological editing kit, Fok-I functions as a chemical scissors, cleaving DNA in a
specific pattern, whereas the Ligase enzyme seals DNA molecules together.

As the lab work progressed, Shapiro and his team realized that the automaton
they built could be programmed to perform different tasks by selecting different subsets
of the molecules realizing the eight possible rules of operation controlling the
performance of a two-state, two-symbol finite automaton. The software molecules,
together with two 'output display' molecules used to visualize the final result of the
computation, can be used to create a total of 765 software programs. Several of these
programs were tested in the lab, including the 'even 1's checker' and the '0's before 1's'
test mentioned above, as well as programs that check whether a list of 0's and 1's has at
least (or at most) one 0, and whether it both starts with a 0 and ends with a 1.

The nanocomputer created by Shapiro's team uses the four DNA bases known as
A, G, C and T, to encode the input data as well as the program rules underlying the
computer 'software.' Both input and software molecules are designed to have one DNA
strand longer than the other, resulting in a single-strand overhang called a 'sticky end.'
Two molecules with complementary sticky ends can temporarily stick to each other (a
process known as hybridization), allowing DNA Ligase to permanently seal them into
one molecule. The sticky end of the input molecule encodes the current symbol and the
current state of the computation, whereas the sticky end of each 'software' molecule is
designed to detect a particular state-symbol combination. A two-state, two-symbol
automaton has four such combinations. For each combination the nanocomputer has
two possible next moves, to remain in the same state or to change to the other state,
allowing eight software molecules to cover all possibilities.

So how does such a computer work? Let's say the computer wants to know
whether the number of times a "B" DNA type appears in a DNA section is odd or even.
The DNA section - the "input" - is inserted into a chemical solution along with enzymes
to be used as the computer's "hardware". Other DNA sections are added, which act as
"software".

A software section sticks to the input with the help of an enzyme. If the tip of
the input is "B", the input will be labeled as having an odd number of "B" sequences.
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Another enzyme then cuts the section and reveals the next sequence. Each time "B"
appears, the label on the input changes from "even" to "odd" and back again. Once the
computer has dissected the entire input, it can determine whether the sequence appeared
an even or odd number of times according to the last label - the "output".

The computer can also do other calculations, such as checking whether the "B"
sequence appears at least once, or at most once, by inserting different types of software
DNAs.

OUTPUT DISPLAY

In each processing step the input molecule hybridizes with a software molecule
that has a complementary sticky end, allowing Ligase to seal them together using two
ATP molecules as energy. Then comes Fok-I, detecting a special site in the software
molecule known as the recognition site. It cleaves the input molecule in a location
determined by the software molecule, thus exposing a sticky end that encodes the next
input symbol and the next state of the computation. Once the last input symbol is
processed, a sticky end encoding the final state of the computation is exposed and
detected, again by hybridization and ligation, by one of two 'output display' molecules.
The resulting molecule, which reports the output of the computation, is made visible to
the human eye in a process known as gel electrophoresis.

DNA'S LIMITLESS POTENTIAL

Though they are simple, the bio-computers can perform certain functions very
quickly. For example, scientists said they might be able to speed up the time-consuming
study of DNA by forming the basis of computers capable of screening DNA libraries in
parallel, without sequencing each molecule as is required now. DNA has vast memory
capacity -- the trick is to exploit its nearly limitless potential.

"The living cell contains incredible molecular machines that manipulate

information-encoding molecules such as DNA and RNA in ways that are fundamentally
very similar to computation," Shapiro said. "Since we don't know how to effectively

17
modify these machines or create new ones just yet, the trick is to find naturally existing
machines that, when combined, can be steered to actually compute," he added.

MOLECULAR-LEVEL TREATMENT

The bio-computer uses two naturally occurring enzymes that can manipulate
DNA as its "hardware." The "software" and "hardware" molecules, when mixed in a
solution, operate in harmony on what is known as the "input" molecule. What results is
a simple mathematical computing machine known as a "finite automaton." It then can
be programmed to perform simple tasks by choosing different "software" molecules to
be mixed in solution. "Such machines might analyze natural DNA, human or otherwise,
in the lab within a few years," Shapiro said. "The time when such machines can actually
operate within the human body, programmed with medical knowledge so that they can
effect some medical treatment at the molecular level, is at least a few decades away

COMPUTING COMES TO LIFE

The idea of a bacterial computer is not in itself quite so outlandish as it may

seem on first acquaintance. In principle, computing machines can be made out of
almost anything, and there is no reason that lipid sacs of proteins and nucleic acids
should not also qualify as computer building blocks. From the lofty and austere
perspective of computer science, an agar plate coated with microscopic bacteria is not
much different from a silicon wafer etched with microscopic transistors. If the
components can store and manipulate information in a few basic ways, they can
compute.

Can biocomputer engineers cope with all the distinctive failure modes of living
organismsdisease, predation, parasitism, senescence, death? (In this context the threat
of a computer virus is more than a metaphor!) It's fair to say that practical applications
of biological computers are a long way off. And yet skeptics might keep in mind that
the historical record of domestications is a vast catalogue of unlikely-seeming successes

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BIOLOGICAL 'COMPUTER' FITS INSIDE A DROP OF WATER

Scientists in Jerusalem have created a 'biological computer' small enough to fit

inside a drop of water. It uses enzymes as hardware and DNA molecules as software.
The nanocomputer contains a trillion living cells and it is hoped such a device may one
day act as an automatic doctor inside patients. The device's creators say the trillion
cells, acting together, can perform a billion operations per second, with 99.8% accuracy.
The trillion cells require less than a billionth of a watt of power to operate.

ADVANTAGES

There are several advantages to using DNA instead of silicon:

As long as there are cellular organisms, there will always be a supply of DNA.
The large supply of DNA makes it a cheap resource.
Unlike the toxic materials used to make traditional microprocessors, DNA
biochips can be made cleanly.
DNA computers are many times smaller than today's computers.
DNA will make computers smaller than any computer that has come before
them, while at the same time holding more data
Unlike conventional computers, DNA computers perform calculations parallel
to other calculations. Conventional computers operate linearly, taking on tasks
one at a time. It is parallel computing that allows DNA to solve complex
mathematical problems in hours, whereas it might take electrical computers
hundreds of
Diagnosis of cancer
Application in biological & pharmaceutical applns
Recoverability

There are a lot of things that are always going to happen,accidents, different
conditions, something that's going to fool your computer program, but a biological
computer can actually heal itself, adapt and get better at what it does

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 DISADVANTAGES

Biological computers (literally) have a few bugs that need to be worked out
before they start appearing regularly in mail order catalogues. For one thing, while they
can do rudimentary sort of calculation, input/output is exceedingly slow. That slimy
blob would take a long time to do something as simple as balance your checkbook, and
it would need regular feedings as well.

Silicon computers can switch between calculations. But you would have to
construct a biological computer anew for each problem.

The electronics behind your computer chips run at almost the speed of light.
Transistors are limited by "gating time," which is how long it takes the gate to open and
close when you apply voltage. The gates of transistors composing chips now on the
market are 130 nanometers (really small), which make them fast and power efficient.

But a biological computer is limited by diffusion, a relatively slow process. Plus,

cells need a medium in which to grow. That biological computer could be a gooey mess.

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 APPLICATIONS

There are currently several research disciplines driving towards the creation and
use of DNA nanostructures for both biological and non-biological applications. These
converging areas are:

The miniaturization of biosensors and biochips into the nanometer scale regime,
The fabrication of nanoscale objects that can be placed in intracellular locations
for monitoring and modifying cell function,
The replacement of silicon devices with nanoscale molecular-based
computational systems, and
The application of biopolymers in the formation of novel nanostructured
materials with unique optical and selective transport properties.

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 CONCLUSION

BIOLOGICAL SOFTWARE FOR COMPUTERS OF THE FUTURE

Researchers from the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot and the Technion in Haifa
have developed a computer so tiny that a trillion of them could fit into a laboratory test
tube. The "computers" are biological molecules, using DNA for software and enzymes
for hardware, and can solve a billion mathematical problems a second.

Such tiny devices could one day fit into cells and supervise biological
processes, or even synthesize drugs. DNA strands exist in almost every body
cell - they are biological software that tell each cell and molecule what to do.

"If you look at the mechanism of a cell, a lot of what goes on inside is
computation. We don't need to teach the cell new tricks, we just need to put the
existing tricks in the right order," says Prof. Ehud Shapiro of the Weizmann
Institute, who headed the research.

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www.news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/ sci/tech/newsid_358000/358822.stm
www.ece.uiuc.edu/pubs/centhist/six/bcl.htm
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/07/990702080524.htm
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/04/040430052921.htm
www.cbhd.org/resources/biotech/tongen_2003-11-07.htm
www.hindu.com/seta/2004/ 05/20/stories/2004052000611600.htm
www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/ 2004-04/wi-bcd042604.php
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