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Automata make antisense

Nature volume 429, pages 351–352 (2004)Cite this article

Information-carrying DNA strands can be used to perform simple computations, but have so far been little more than toys. Can molecular computers be more broadly useful — in medicine, for instance?

People have long been fascinated with automata, fashioning them from any available materials to create mechanical creatures or musical devices, or to carry out simple computations. The materials used have even included biological molecules: in 2001, for instance, Yaakov Benenson and colleagues1 built a tiny automaton from DNA strands and enzymes. On page 423 of this issue2, Benenson et al. suggest how such molecular automata might be used to augment so-called antisense technologies, carrying out a diagnosis in vivo (that is, in a living cell) that automatically controls drug delivery.

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Figure 1: Automaton in abstract.
Figure 2: Benenson and colleagues' molecular diagnostic automaton.

References

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  1. the Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia, 2366 Main Mall, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, British Columbia, Canada

    Anne Condon

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  1. Anne Condon
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Condon, A. Automata make antisense. Nature 429, 351–352 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/429351a

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