From the E. coli made a biocomputer

According to the editors of Nature, a group of geneticists from Harvard University managed to turn the E. coli into a kind of biological computer. On the basis of the bacteria, they even created a logical scheme, the role of electrical signals in which the RNA molecules performed.

It should be noted that scientists have been engaged in the creation of biological computers for quite some time. Already managed to create many computers based on DNA. Moreover, in the United States, a biocomputer that combines bacteria from different strains has already been successfully "assembled." But, despite all the advances in this field, DNA computers have one significant drawback. All participating DNA chains perform a strictly defined function. That is, without changing the structure of the DNA molecule, the biological computer will not be able to perform a new action. Therefore, until today, scientists have collected simple biocomputers that perform one logical operation per clock.

Experts from Harvard went the other way. Instead of DNA, they used short RNA molecules. This approach allowed them to create a biocomputer capable of performing all the functions of semiconductor processors. RNA molecules of bacteria have the form of "pins". These "pins" change shape when another RNA molecule joins them with a suitable set of "pins". The RNA form determines whether the ribosome can read it and collect a protein molecule that causes the cell to give a certain signal. By combining different types of "pins" at the ends of the RNA molecule, one can achieve at the output of different signals and, accordingly, create analogues of the logic elements of semiconductor circuits. Scientists from Harvard have created several universal computational blocks of RNA molecules, capable of processing all four basic logical operations and checking any logical expressions. Then, making sure that it works, they combined several blocks into a system of 444 links, performing 12 logical operations and processing five different chemical signals. As one of the authors of the work Kim Yongmin said,

"We even managed to integrate two independent logical devices into one bacterium, which distinguish two different types of luminous proteins. This opens the way for the creation of biosensors that fit all in one cage. In addition, such a system is easy to transplant into other types of microbes. "

Such biocomputers can be used to observe the processes that take place inside living cells, as well as to create sensors for monitoring the state of human health.

It is based on the materials of RIA Novosti

The article is based on materials https://hi-news.ru/technology/iz-kishechnoj-palochki-sdelali-biokompyuter.html.