Infinite Genetic Circuitry

Chris Dwyer, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering, says he has found a way for simple logic circuts to be created using DNA instead of silicon.  Not only have they figured out how to create these devices (resembling tiny waffles), but more can be produced in a single day than the number of silicon chips that can be created worldwide in a month.

One key to programming DNA with operations, or logic gates, is the combined use of chromophores, or molecules that get excited by the presence of light.  "This is the first demonstration of such an active and rapid processing and sensing capacity at the molecular level," Dwyer said. The results of his experiments were published online in the journal Small:

"Conventional technology has reached its physical limits. The ability to cheaply produce virtually unlimited supplies of these tiny circuits seems to me to be the next logical step."

Image: "Fairy DNA" by kyz on Flickr, courtesy of Creative Commons.