<p>In a first, scientists have designed a new, super-fast form of a 'magic' computer made of DNA molecules that grows as it computes and can outperform all standard systems in solving important practical problems.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Researchers from The University of Manchester in the UK showed the feasibility of engineering a universal Turing machine (UTM) - a computer that can be programmed to compute anything any other device can process.<br /><br />Electronic computers are a form of UTM, but no quantum UTM has yet been built.<br />The theoretical properties of such a computing machine, including its exponential boost in speed over electronic and quantum computers, have been well understood for many years – but the breakthrough demonstrates that it is actually possible to physically create a UTM using DNA molecules.<br /><br />"Imagine a computer is searching a maze and comes to a choice point, one path leading left, the other right. Electronic computers need to choose which path to follow first," said Ross D King, from The University of Manchester.<br /><br />"But our new computer doesn't need to choose, for it can replicate itself and follow both paths at the same time, thus finding the answer faster," said King.<br /><br />"This 'magical' property is possible because the computer's processors are made of DNA rather than silicon chips. All electronic computers have a fixed number of chips," he said.<br />"Our computer's ability to grow as it computes makes it faster than any other form of computer, and enables the solution of many computational problems previously considered impossible," he added.<br /><br />"Quantum computers are an exciting other form of computer, and they can also follow both paths in a maze, but only if the maze has certain symmetries, which greatly limits their use," King said.<br /><br />"As DNA molecules are very small a desktop computer could potentially utilise more processors than all the electronic computers in the world combined - and therefore outperform the world's current fastest supercomputer, while consuming a tiny fraction of its energy," he said.<br /><br />DNA computing is the performing of computations using biological molecules rather than traditional silicon chips.<br /><br />In DNA computing, information is represented using the four-character genetic alphabet - A (adenine), G (guanine), C (cytosine) and T (thymine) - rather than the binary alphabet, which is a series of 1s and 0s used by traditional computers.<br /><br />The research appears in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface</p>
<p>In a first, scientists have designed a new, super-fast form of a 'magic' computer made of DNA molecules that grows as it computes and can outperform all standard systems in solving important practical problems.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Researchers from The University of Manchester in the UK showed the feasibility of engineering a universal Turing machine (UTM) - a computer that can be programmed to compute anything any other device can process.<br /><br />Electronic computers are a form of UTM, but no quantum UTM has yet been built.<br />The theoretical properties of such a computing machine, including its exponential boost in speed over electronic and quantum computers, have been well understood for many years – but the breakthrough demonstrates that it is actually possible to physically create a UTM using DNA molecules.<br /><br />"Imagine a computer is searching a maze and comes to a choice point, one path leading left, the other right. Electronic computers need to choose which path to follow first," said Ross D King, from The University of Manchester.<br /><br />"But our new computer doesn't need to choose, for it can replicate itself and follow both paths at the same time, thus finding the answer faster," said King.<br /><br />"This 'magical' property is possible because the computer's processors are made of DNA rather than silicon chips. All electronic computers have a fixed number of chips," he said.<br />"Our computer's ability to grow as it computes makes it faster than any other form of computer, and enables the solution of many computational problems previously considered impossible," he added.<br /><br />"Quantum computers are an exciting other form of computer, and they can also follow both paths in a maze, but only if the maze has certain symmetries, which greatly limits their use," King said.<br /><br />"As DNA molecules are very small a desktop computer could potentially utilise more processors than all the electronic computers in the world combined - and therefore outperform the world's current fastest supercomputer, while consuming a tiny fraction of its energy," he said.<br /><br />DNA computing is the performing of computations using biological molecules rather than traditional silicon chips.<br /><br />In DNA computing, information is represented using the four-character genetic alphabet - A (adenine), G (guanine), C (cytosine) and T (thymine) - rather than the binary alphabet, which is a series of 1s and 0s used by traditional computers.<br /><br />The research appears in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface</p>