1st DNA Biological Computer Developed Computer made from DNA molecules and enzymes

1st DNA Biological Computer Developed Computer made from DNA molecules and enzymes

In past DNA has been used for encryption but this is the first time
First experimental demonstration of a molecular cryptosystem of images based on DNA computing.

The results are published this week in the "Journal of the American Chemical Society" by Prof. Ehud Keinan.
The study was published in a recent online-before-print edition of the journal Angewandte Chemie.




Biological computer has been developed by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute in California and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology

The Technion - Israel Institute of Technology and the Scripps Research Institute have developed a biological computer composed entirely of DNA molecules and enzymes constructed on a gold-coated chip.
The group, led by Professor Ehud Keinan of Scripps, used the computer to decrypt logos of The Scripps Research Institute and Technion.
Instead of using traditional computer hardware, a group led by Professor Ehud Keinan of Scripps Research and the Technion created a computing system using bio-molecules.
When suitable software was applied to the biological computer, it could decrypt, separately, fluorescent images of The Scripps Research Institute and Technion logos.


The biomolecules can decipher images encrypted on DNA chips.

What is computer?
In simple terms we can say that computer is a machine made of four components:
1. hardware

2. software

3. input

4. output

Computer is made up of metallic parts and plastic parts
Software is set of instructions or language in which computers as well as computer parts talk with each other using electronic signals 0 and 1.

So what is the biological Computer?
The biological computer is "built" by combining chemical components into a solution in a tube.
Various small DNA molecules are mixed in solution with selected DNA enzymes and ATP. The latter is used as the energy source of the device.
"It's a clear solution you don't really see anything,"
"The molecules start interacting upon one another and scientist can choose DNA type and enzymes in the mix and they can get the desired result.

In simple language we can say

DNA molecules in tube carry out all the traditional functions of a computer, with the chemical reactions performing the computing that usually is performed on transistors on a microchip. Or say CPU and motherboard of a computer.

What is the power source of biological computer?
The energy source is also biological: the molecule ATP, which powers metabolism.

“In contrast to electronic computers, there are computing machines in which all four components are nothing but molecules,” Keinan said.
“For example, all biological systems and even entire living organisms are such computers. Every one of us is a bimolecular computer, a machine in which all four components are molecules that ‘talk’ to one another logically.”

The hardware and software in these devices, Keinan notes, are complex biological molecules that activate one another to carry out some predetermined chemical work.
The input is a molecule that undergoes specific, predetermined changes, following a specific set of rules (software), and the output of this chemical computation process is another well-defined molecule.

Our biological computing device is based on the 75-year-old design by the English mathematician, cryptanalyst, and computer scientist Alan Turing,” Keinan said. “He was highly influential in the development of computer science, providing a formalization of the concepts of algorithm and computation, and he played a significant role in the creation of the modern computer. Turing showed convincingly that using this model you can do all the calculations in the world.
The input of the Turing machine is a long tape containing a series of symbols and letters, which is reminiscent of a DNA string.
A reading head runs from one letter to another, and on each station it does four actions

1) Reading the letter

2) Replacing that letter with another letter

3) Changing its internal state

4) Moving to next position. A table of instructions, known as the transitional rules, or software, dictates these actions. Our device is based on the model of a finite state automaton, which is a simplified version of the Turing machine.

Source - http://www.scripps.edu/

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Thursday, February 09, 2012

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