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Biocomputing

DNA computes a square root

Nature Nanotechnology volume 6, pages 465–467 (2011)Cite this article

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Complex molecular circuits with reliable digital behaviour can be created using DNA strands.

The field of molecular computing will shortly enter its third decade, but basic terms used by its practitioners are still the subject of lively debate. The terms 'logic' and 'digital', for example, are frequently objected to on the grounds that molecules cannot be reduced to zeros and ones. However, it is only habit that allows electronic switches to be viewed as a 'natural' fit for abstract models of computation, but not molecules. In fact, such models can be projected onto any physical system; the ultimate test is whether the projection is useful. Writing in Science, Lulu Qian and Erik Winfree of the California Institute of Technology now report how digital abstraction can guide the design of DNA-based molecular circuits of unprecedented complexity1.

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Figure 1: Key features of the DNA circuits made by Qian and Winfree1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yaakov Benenson is in the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), Basel 4058, Switzerland,

    Yaakov Benenson

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  1. Yaakov Benenson
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Correspondence to Yaakov Benenson.

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Benenson, Y. DNA computes a square root. Nature Nanotech 6, 465–467 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2011.128

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