From an article by Tim Sandle at Digital Journal:

Researchers from Arizona State University have demonstrated that living cells can be induced to carry out complex computations in the manner of tiny robots or computers.

It’s an example of engineers and biologists coming together to create an innovative solution to the performing of calculations. The implications are a potential game-changer for intelligent drug design and smart drug delivery. Other fields that could be affected include green energy production, low-cost diagnostic technologies and the development of futuristic nanomachines to be used in gene-editing.

The basis of the new technology is the natural interactions between nucleic acid; in this case the predictable and programmable RNA-RNA interactions. RNA is ribonucleic acid, an important molecule with long chains of nucleotides.

Image Credit:   Mauricio Lima, AFP/File

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