World’s First Biological Computer Developed

Scientists in the US claim to have developed the world’s first “biological computer” that is made from biomolecules and can decipher images encrypted on DNA chips.In contrast to electronic computers, these are computing machines in which all four components are nothing but molecules.

The hardware and software in these devices, Keinan notes, are complex biological molecules that activate one another to carry out some predetermined chemical work. The input is a molecule that undergoes specific, predetermined changes, following a specific set of rules (software), and the output of this chemical computation process is another well-defined molecule.

For example, all biological systems and even entire living organisms are such computers. Every one of us is a biomolecular computer, a machine in which all four components are molecules that ‘talk’ to one another logically

Encrypted images on a DNA chip and used their Turing machine-like creation to decode them, with fluorescent stains helping to track its progress. The above image, read from left to right, gives a more literal idea of what the system can do — basically, it takes a hidden image and extracts a given sequence.

Using DNA to store date isn’t a difficult thing to do after all DNA is primarily used to store genetic data but this is the first time a computer was used to decode information. The molecular computer isn’t similar to desktop PCs or laptops, rather it can be compared to a simple Turing device.