Scientists In Israel Build `Biological Nanocomputer'

Dow Jones Newswires

JERUSALEM (AP)--Using living cells, a group of scientists have developed a computing device so small that a trillion cells would fit in a drop of water, an Israeli university announced Thursday.

The microscopic computers use enzymes as hardware, which in turn manipulate DNA molecules as software, creating a single mathematical computing machine, called a finite automaton.

A group of scientists headed by a Weizmann Institute of Science professor, Ehud Shapiro, created the "biological nanocomputers."

Acting together, the trillion cells can perform a billion operations per second, with 99.8% accuracy, the group said. The trillion cells require less than a billionth of a Watt of power to operate.

"The living cell contains incredible molecular machines that manipulate information-encoding molecules ... in ways that are fundamentally very similar to computation," Shapiro said.

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 institute.

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 the cells operate according to preset reactions - but said the invention is "a very exciting step toward plausible DNA computing."

The automatons could soon prove to be useful by detecting anomalies while operating within human DNA, he said.