If you thought E. Coli bacteria only caused ailments, you are wrong. Scientists have found a way to use them to create simple computers capable of solving a classic math puzzle called the ‘Burnt Pancake Problem’. This could be the beginning of ‘living computers’ that could help fuel research in the areas of data storage, tissue engineering, bio technology etc. among other fields. The computer makes use of the in vivo system which exploits the storage capacity of DNA and the efficiency of molecular assembly. The amazing fact about this research is that further developments could help computers which work like DNA: Replication and cell division to create billions of parallel processors.
When we talk about bacteria, its only natural to imagine things going terribly wrong for which the scientists say that the biological safety valve which is under development would cause the whole system to abort if the cell population crosses a certain number. In fact, it works the same way as the traditional chip based computers do. The whole idea is to take the memory capacity and the storage capacity to a new level and also try and develop artificial neurons and cells or even bones and glia. Check out more pics here.
Via: Msnbc
