EMBARGOED: NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE BEFORE 5 P.M. EST MONDAY, FEBRUARY
24, 2003
Frugal Computer Uses
DNA as Input, Fuel
Fifty years
after the discovery of the structure of DNA, a team of scientists presents
a tiny computing machine composed solely of DNA and enzymes. In terms of
speed and size, DNA computers may eventually surpass traditional computers
that use silicon microchips. While many groups have proposed designs for
DNA computers, previous attempts have relied on an energetic molecule called
ATP for fuel. In article #5624, Ehud Shapiro and colleagues describe a DNA
computer that uses DNA as the fuel supply and is recognized by Guinness World
Records as the world's smallest biological computing device. In each
computational step, two complementary DNA molecules--an input molecule and
a software molecule--spontaneously bond together. The software molecule then
directs a DNA-cleaving enzyme to cut a piece of the input molecule. The enzyme,
FokI, breaks two bonds in the DNA double helix, releasing the energy stored
in these bonds as heat. This process generates sufficient power to carry
out computations to completion without an external energy source. The authors
report that a microliter of solution could hold up to three trillion of the
DNA computers, performing 66 billion operations per second.
"DNA molecule provides a computing machine with both data and fuel" by
Yaakov Benenson, Rivka Adar, Tamar Paz-Elizur, Zvi Livneh, and Ehud Shapiro
MEDIA CONTACT: Ehud Shapiro, Weizmann Institute of Science; tel. 972-8-9344506,
fax 972-8-9471746, or e-mail <ehud.shapiro@weizmann.ac.il>; and David
Hawksett, Guinness World Records; tel 44-207-891-4588, fax 44-207-891-4501,
or e-mail <david.hawksett@guinnessworldrecords.com>
A VISUAL ACCOMPANYING THIS ARTICLE IS AVAILABLE
Web
site: www.weizmann.ac.il/udi
Additional PNAS embargoed supplementary material:
www.weizmann.ac.il/udi/PNAS/