dna

dnaf DNA, and the ongoing research into its workings, have provided scientists with a lot of new knowledge. One of the, perhaps unexpected, new areas of research that have sprouted forth from this knowledge, is the area of DNA computing, where DNA molecules are used to perform computational operations. A new study has developed a DNA computer that is able to calculate the square root of whole numbers up to 15 and round the answer to the nearest whole number.

By using nothing but strands of DNA, Qian and Winfree (2011), have been able to design a biochemical circuit able to perform this basic calculation. To do it, DNA strands that encoded for the input (one strand per binary digit of the input number, up to four binary digits possible, thus up to 15) were added to the solution which contained the system of DNA logic gates, which were composed out of double-stranded DNA molecules with some ‘openings’ where the input strands could get a hold and ‘unzip’ the double strand while binding to one of the strands, thereby making a new double-stranded molecule by ‘pushing’ a strand off (as shown in Figure 1).

dna