Imagine if you could control the metabolism of cells or organs in your body to cure diseases such as diabetes and obesity! This is no longer impossible with the idea of bio-computers. With the development of nanotechnology, scientists now have the ability to build computers using biologically derived molecules, such as DNA and RNA, to implement computational functions. The most potential applications of bio-computers is concentrated on illness detection, drug release and other various medical purposes.
In October 2008, the California Institute of Technology invented a basic logic gate inside living yeast cells using RNA molecules to prevent the production of glowing proteins 1, 2. In March 2013, Stanford University developed the first biological transistor, ‘transcriptor’, using DNA and RNA, which made the final component to build bio-computers available3. It has the same functions of a digital transistor and the only difference is it is made from biological materials. One of the most important functions of the transcriptor is to amplify signals, and with various transcriptors, it can implement all basic logic gates like AND, NAND, OR, XOR, NOR, and XNOR.
Although the researchers at Stanford mentioned that there was still a long way to go before being able to build advanced bio-computers in the real world, the potential of this technology is remarkable and it might replace plenty of current medicines and treatments.
References:
- https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14965-molecular-computer-runs-calculations-inside-living-cell/
- http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/10/081016-rna-computer.html
- http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/152074-stanford-creates-biological-transistors-the-final-step-towards-computers-inside-living-cells
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