At times I manage to pull myself away from the computer and am forced to take my head out of one of the many computer books around my house I get the withdraw symptoms so pick up a computer magazine to help with my addiction. I was reading PC pro issue 86 and came across this article with the latest on quantum computing thought someone might be interested in this, I know I was.

So here is the article from page 41 in PC Pro issue 86 march 2001

Tiny PC in the genes

DNA researchers unveil science fiction-style processing

It sounds like pure science fiction, but Israeli scientists have invented a DNA computer which is so tiny that a trillion of them can fit into a 0.1ml droplet of watery solution. And if that isn’t mind boggling enough, the scientist claim the combination of tiny computers could perform up to a billion operation per second with 99.8 per cent accuracy.

The micro-machine, created by the Weizmann Institute of Science, is contained within a test tube and uses naturally occurring enzymes to manipulate DNA molecules in order to perform input and output operations

A simple mathematical computer is formed form this process, known as a "finite automation" and the scientists say they can program it to perform a number of simple tasks by mixing different DNA molecules in solution.

According to scientist, the DNA computer has the potential to operate within human cells to detect disease and abnormal changes in the body, and to determine how to cure it by synthesising and releasing the proper drug.

This technology may be in its infancy, but the Israeli scientists aren’t alone in their discovery " The human brain is a great computer buts it not so good on memory” said professor Colin Humphreys of Cambridge University's Nanotechnology department.

"we are about to send off a paper because we have been able to trap and isolate a single molecule of DNA and manipulate it, but we the first people to do it I think, to do this. However, actually turning this into a computer is years and years away.
Hope you enjoyed the read below are a few link i found if you want to know more.


http://users.aol.com/ibrandt/dna_computer.html
http://in.news.yahoo.com/011121/107/199x5.html
http://www.englib.cornell.edu/scitech/w96/DNA.html


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