DNA Computers

How tech? DNA computing took the centre stage at this years Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference early in the week. We really wanted to go and see if we could hook ourselves up "wetware" stylee to really find out what The Matrix is, but when we asked them if this was possible they weren't very amused.

The researchers instead got together to discuss the far more interesting "ultra-dense" computers systems that hold megabytes of data on devices as small as a silicon transistor. A single bacterium cell, for example, measures about the same size as something very small, but packs more than a megabyte of DNA memory and has the necessary computational structures to sense and respond to its environment.

Proponents say that a single strand of DNA could simultaneously attack different aspects of a computation to crack even the toughest code. USC professor Leonard Adleman, considered the "father" of DNA computing, says that so far researchers have experimented with only a few "toy" problems, adding that the next step will be to use DNA to solve a problem that can be solved by current computers but not by pen and paper.

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