Revolutionary Breakthrough: DNA-Powered Liquid Computer with Billions of Circuits Unveiled!
For countless years, DNA has been like a life instruction manual. It not only provides blueprints for countless chemical structures but also manages how to make them. Recently, scientists have been exploring a new role for DNA – as the foundation for a biological computer. However, despite 30 years having passed since the initial prototype, the majority of DNA computers have had trouble performing more than a few particular functions.
Now, a team of Chinese researchers has created a DNA integrated circuit (DIC) that is incredibly versatile. This liquid computer can form an astounding 100 billion circuits, and each of them can run its own program.
DNA-Powered Liquid Computer with Billions of Circuits Unveiled!
The use of DNA-Powered computing could lead to the development of significantly quicker and more potent machines. Like quantum computing, this can be approached in a variety of ways. Here, scientists aimed to develop something that was more adaptable and had more possible applications.
The researchers explained, “Programmability and scalability are essential for general-purpose computing. Programmability means you can make the device do various tasks, and scalability means you can handle more work by adding resources.”
To achieve this, the team worked on DNA-based programmable gate arrays (DPGAs). These are short DNA segments linked together to create larger structures, which can be combined into various integrated circuits. In test tubes, the researchers combined DNA strands with a buffer fluid and relied on chemical reactions to form links. They were able to create the DICs they desired using this approach.
They also had to conduct careful planning to determine how to control input and output signals and carry out logic operations, much like a conventional computer. For larger circuits that were too big for a single DPGA, they broke them down into smaller parts for assembly. During their experiments, the researchers created circuits to solve problems like quadratic equations and square roots. These systems might be utilized in the future for things like disease diagnostics. Importantly, these experimental systems showed minimal signal loss as the signal traveled, a crucial factor for scalable and adaptable DNA computers.
We’re still far from fully realizing the potential of DNA computing. To adapt this biological storage system for ordinary computing tasks, however, researchers have made tremendous progress recently.
The researchers concluded, “The ability to create large-scale DPGA networks without significant signal loss is a significant step toward achieving general-purpose DNA computing.”
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