Building Living, Breathing Biological Supercomputers
Katherine Gombay | February 26, 2016
They’ve published an article on the subject in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), in which they describe a model of a biological computer they have created that is able to process information very quickly and accurately using parallel networks in the same way that massive electronic supercomputers do.
![]() |
Strings of proteins of different lengths travel around the microchip that powers a new model biological supercomputer. Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/mcgill-bio-super-computer-1.3466095 |
<more at http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news/2016/02/building-living-breathing-biological-supercomputers; related links and articles: http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/152074-stanford-creates-biological-transistors-the-final-step-towards-computers-inside-living-cells (Stanford creates biological transistors, the final step towards computers inside living cells. March 29, 2013) and http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/02/17/1510825113 (Parallel computation with molecular-motor-propelled agents in nanofabricated networks. Dan V. Nicolau, Jr., Mercy Lardc, Till Kortend, Falco C. M. J. M. van Delftf, Malin Perssong, Elina Bengtssong, Alf MÃ¥nssong, Stefan Diezd, Heiner Linkec, and Dan V. Nicolauh. Early Edition, Dan V. Nicolau Jr., doi: 10.1073/pnas.1510825113, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. [Abstract: The combinatorial nature of many important mathematical problems, including nondeterministic-polynomial-time (NP)-complete problems, places a severe limitation on the problem size that can be solved with conventional, sequentially operating electronic computers. There have been significant efforts in conceiving parallel-computation approaches in the past, for example: DNA computation, quantum computation, and microfluidics-based computation. However, these approaches have not proven, so far, to be scalable and practical from a fabrication and operational perspective. Here, we report the foundations of an alternative parallel-computation system in which a given combinatorial problem is encoded into a graphical, modular network that is embedded in a nanofabricated planar device. Exploring the network in a parallel fashion using a large number of independent, molecular-motor-propelled agents then solves the mathematical problem. This approach uses orders of magnitude less energy than conventional computers, thus addressing issues related to power consumption and heat dissipation. We provide a proof-of-concept demonstration of such a device by solving, in a parallel fashion, the small instance of the subset sum problem, which is a benchmark NP-complete problem. Finally, we discuss the technical advances necessary to make our system scalable with presently available technology.]); further: http://jewishbusinessnews.com/2013/05/23/israel-scientists-develop-an-advanced-biological-computer/ (Israeli Scientists Develop An Advanced Biological Computer. May 23, 2013)>
No comments:
Post a Comment