DNA computation
While the computer manufactures are competing to update the performance of microprocessors (CPU) in computers, scientists have realized that this competition will eventually end due to the limitation of physical speed and miniaturization of materials. Instead, scientists have found DNA as an excellent material to build the next generation of smaller, faster high-performance microprocessor.
In 1994, Leonard M. Adleman, a computer scientist at the University of Southern California, introduced the concept of DNA’s computational potentials and ability to solve complex problems (Shapiro, Ehud, Benenson, Yaakov, Page 2). He introduced his idea with a problem known as “Hamiltonian path or the traveling salesman problem”. The basis of the problem is to determine the shortest route among cities connected by airline that passes through every city exactly once. Adleman used his DNA test-tube computer to find the best solutions within few minutes by using the molecules’ pairing affinities (Shapiro, Ehud, Benenson, Yaakov, Page 2).
As Professor Leonard M. Adleman’s experiment shown, the mechanism of DNA computation and Turing’s machine has distinctive similarities. DNA can store very complex information under the instruction in genome, such as sequences of nucleic acids (Shapiro, Ehud, Benenson, Yaakov, Page 1). Additionally, DNA can process information with four bases, similar to a string of binary date number ones and zeros in computer, and operates these information by moving step by step along those strings under rules (Shapiro, Ehud, Benenson, Yaakov, Page 1).
Compared to existing silicone microprocessors, some unique features of DNA indicate a bright future for DNA computers as the next generation of computers. For example, in a living organism, a DNA computer can interact with that environment because they can communicate with living cells (Shapiro, Ehud, Benenson, Yaakov, Page 2). This feature made DNA computers...