Biocomputing chip made from bacteria promises to revolutionize medicine | Science

A team of researchers has developed a biocomputing platform using enzymes as cofactors for DNA-based molecular computing. Scientists aim to use this technology to develop devices that move within a patient’s bloodstream for simultaneous diagnosis and treatment.

Biocomputing is a field that integrates computing and biology to develop computational tools to analyze and understand important data. Artificial intelligence and big data analysis techniques are used to understand key processes and develop new medical treatments and diagnostics.

The research team was able to create an electrical circuit from DNA inside test tubes, and they report details of the study in new research published in the journal. Natural communication.

Biocomputing

Biocomputing technology is rapidly evolving to meet new needs such as data storage and autonomous system manufacturing, and rapid progress in this field relies on continuous research and development of bioprocessors to meet many needs.

Biocomputing is usually done with cells or non-living molecules, but one of the advantages of cells in organisms like bacteria is that they can feed themselves and self-heal, but it is difficult to redirect cells to cells.

Inanimate molecules can solve some problems, but they send weak ‘output signals’ that are difficult to control. Conventional computers are limited in their ability to interact with living organisms and cannot heal themselves naturally.

“Output signals” refer to signals from an electronic or electrical device and used to control other devices and are used in industrial automation, robotics, home appliances and many other applications.

Computerized implants require constant electricity and can scar soft tissue, which has long held back the development of medical devices. But by using biological molecules like DNA or proteins, biocomputing can overcome those limitations.

Trumpet platform

A team of researchers at the University of Minnesota in the US has developed a new platform for biocomputing, and called it “Trumpet”, short for a long title.

Trumpet’s platform combines the simplicity of molecular bio-computing with programmability, and its platform is trusted to encode all the logic gates underlying programming languages. A tool Facilitates the design of cross-platform codes on the web.

The platform uses biological enzymes as catalysts for DNA-based molecular computing. The researchers performed the same operations as all computers in test tubes using DNA molecules.

Molecules are designed as an electronic circuit, the positive gate connection leads to a phosphorescent glow, and the gate is an element that controls the flow of current in the circuit, and if the gate is open, the current will not flow. In the circuit, it passes through when it is closed, and in this case it makes the DNA glow, and emits a phosphorescent beam when a circuit is complete, much like a light bulb lights up when testing a circuit board.

Kate Adamala, an assistant professor in the University of Minnesota’s College of Biological Sciences and co-author of the study, said. Press release According to the university, it’s “an inanimate molecular platform, so we don’t have most of the problems of engineering cells.”

Huge potential in the future

Trumpet provides a new principle for system biocomputing and aims to fill the gap between simple biochemical logic and highly autonomous cell circuits with other technologies providing comprehensive biocomputing solutions for novel targets.

“While the platform is still in its early experimental stage, it has tremendous potential in the future, and it could range from purely medical applications, such as healing damaged nerve connections or controlling prosthetic limbs, to science fiction applications such as entertainment, learning and memory,” Adamala said. increased”.

The Trumpet platform can be used for clinical diagnostics and in-vivo combination therapies. For example, a biological circuit detects low insulin levels in a diabetic patient and activates proteins to produce the necessary insulin.

The platform is being used to develop biomedical applications for early detection of cancer and to provide diagnosis and treatment of chronic diseases. Applications of this platform could be added to power a micro device small enough to be injected into a patient’s bloodstream and enable many future applications, such as augmenting human memory, and this technology has the potential to revolutionize medicine. and computers in the future.