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DNA nanotechnology

Non-complementary computation

Nature Chemistry volume 15, pages 9–11 (2023)Cite this article

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Molecular computing programmed with complementary nucleic acid strands allows the construction of sophisticated biomolecular circuits. Now, systems with partially complementary strands have been shown to enable more compact and faster molecular circuits, and may illuminate biological processes.

Our bodies are computers. From organs, to cells, to molecules, gigabytes of information are constantly being processed by neural networks, immune cascades and gene regulation networks enabling us to exist, thrive and evolve. Unlike electronics, much of biological computing is done with molecules. A simple reaction A + B → C can be made an equivalent of an AND logic gate that gives output C only when both input molecules A and B are present. Other logic gates such as NOT, OR and NAND can also be constructed with chemical reactions implementing (in theory) any computer algorithm. Now, writing in Nature Chemistry, Maxim Nikitin describes a mode of biocomputing based on low-affinity molecular interactions1.

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Fig. 1: An AND logic gate implemented with strand displacement and strand commutation.

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  1. Twitter: @nanoassembly

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  1. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Philip Petersen & Grigory Tikhomirov

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  1. Philip Petersen
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  2. Grigory Tikhomirov
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Correspondence to Grigory Tikhomirov.

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Petersen, P., Tikhomirov, G. Non-complementary computation. Nat. Chem. 15, 9–11 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-022-01115-8

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