Scientists in the United States have taken a major step forward in using DNA, the building blocks of life that carry the human genetic blueprint, to process information and solve mathematical problems.
DNA computing has sparked intense interest because more information can be stored on molecules of DNA than any silicon computer chip. Scientists estimate that a dried gram of DNA can store more information than a trillion CDs.
In a report in the science journal Nature, Lloyd Smith and his colleagues at the University of Wisconsin-Madison described how they have transferred a set of DNA molecules from the test tube to a glass plate.
"It demonstrates DNA computing on surfaces, which provides a relatively simple pathway of upscaling DNA computing to solve large problems," Smith said.
"It shows that DNA computing can be put in a form which is very amenable to automation," the professor added in a telephone interview.
Instead of retaining information as ones and zeros and using mathematical formula to solve a problem, DNA computing uses data represented by a pattern of molecules arranged on a strand of DNA.
Specific enzymes act like software to read, copy, and manipulate the code in predictable ways.
Smith said DNA is a potential way of getting around the problem of the silicon chip, which scientists believe cannot be scaled down much further.
But he cautioned that DNA computing was still in its infancy and a long ways away from challenging chip technology. Only about a dozen centers around the world are working on DNA computing and much more needs to be done.
"The interest in the community of computer people is more as exploration or new models for computing than in actual practical consequences in the near term," Smith said.
Leonard Adleman of the University of Southern California came up with the idea of using DNA for computing in 1994.
