Technology: Israeli scientists create microscopic computer from living cells
http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/179332p-1727375c.html
JERUSALEM (November 24, 2001 6:49 p.m. EST) - Using a trillion living cells, a
group of scientists have developed a computing device small enough to fit in a
drop of water, an Israeli university announced.
The microscopic computer uses enzymes as hardware, which in turn manipulates
DNA molecules as software, creating a single mathematical computing machine,
called a finite automaton.
The "biological nanocomputer" was created by a group of scientists headed by
Ehud Shapiro, a professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science, which
announced the development.
"The living cell contains incredible molecular machines that manipulate
information-encoding molecules ... in ways that are fundamentally very similar
to computation," Shapiro said.
Another expert expressed both caution and optimism.
"Using the term 'computer' is actually a bit misleading," said professor
Naftali Tishbi of the Hebrew University, a scientist familiar with the group's
work.
Tishbi defined the cells as automatons, meaning they operate according to
preset reactions, but he said the invention is "a very exciting step toward
plausible DNA computing."
The creators of the device said that the trillion cells, acting together, can
perform a billion operations per second, with 99.8 percent accuracy. The
trillion cells require less than a billionth of a watt of power to operate.
Although the nanocomputer doesn't have any practical use at the moment,
scientists claim it has enormous potential. "Such a future computer could
sense an abnormal biochemical change in the body and decide how to correct it
by synthesizing and releasing the necessary drug," said professor Zvi Livneh,
a DNA expert at the Weizmann Institute.
Tishbi said the automatons could soon prove to be useful by detecting
anomalies while operating within human DNA.
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