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Scientists in Jerusalem have created a 'biological
computer' small enough to fit inside a drop of water.
It uses enzymes as hardware and DNA molecules
as software.
The nanocomputer contains a trillion living
cells and it is hoped such a device may one day act as an automatic
doctor inside patients.
The device's creators say the trillion cells,
acting together, can perform a billion operations per second,
with 99.8% accuracy. The trillion cells require less than a
billionth of a watt of power to operate.
Researchers were lead by Professor Ehud Shapiro,
at the Weizmann Institute of Science.
He said: "The living cell contains incredible
molecular machines that manipulate information-encoding molecules
- in ways that are fundamentally very similar to computation."
But fellow expert Professor Naftali Tishbi says
using the term 'computer' is misleading.
He defines the invention as 'automatons' - meaning
they operate according to preset reactions, but adds it is "a
very exciting step towards plausible DNA computing".
Although the nanocomputer doesn't have any practical
use at the moment, scientists say it has enormous potential.
"Such a future computer could sense an
abnormal biochemical change in the body and decide how to correct
it by synthesising and releasing the necessary drug," said
Professor Zvi Livneh, a DNA expert at the Weizmann Institute.
Story filed: 15:42 Sunday 25th November 2001
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