DNA Computing

One can imagine the eventual emergence of a

general purpose computer consisting of nothing
more than a single macromolecule conjugated to a
ribosomelike collection of enzymes that act on it.

- Leonard Adleman

Vindhya Rani T.G.

(07k91a2330)
 Introduction To DNA
 DNA computing is a novel technology that seeks to
capitalize on the enormous informational capacity of DNA,
that can store huge amounts of information and are able to
perform operations similar to that of a computer.
 Ever wondered where we would find the new material
needed to build the next generation of microprocessors????
 HUMAN BODY (including yours!)
 The appeal of DNA computing lies in the fact that
DNA molecules can store far more information
than any existing conventional computer chip.
 STRUCTURE OF DNA

 All organisms on this planet are made of the same

type of genetic blueprint, which bind us together.
Within the cells of any organism is a substance called
Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA), which is a double-
Stranded helix of nucleotides, which carries the
genetic information of a cell.
 Just like a string of binary data is encoded with
ones and zeros, a strand of DNA is encoded with
four bases, represented by the letters A, T, C, and
G.
 STRUCTURE OF DNA

Illustration of double helix shape of DNA

 Uniqueness Of DNA
Why is DNA a Unique Computational Element?
 Extremely dense information storage.
 Enormous parallelism.
 Extraordinary energy efficiency.
 Complementary structure.
 Dense Information Storage
 Consider that 1 gm of DNA is compared with a
normal CD.
 A CD can hold 800 MB of data.
 A gram of DNA can hold about 1x1014 MB of data.
 More than 10 trillion DNA molecules can fit into
area of 1 cubic centimeter. With this small amount
of DNA a computer would be able to hold 10 tetra
bytes of data and perform 10 trillions calculations
at a time.
 Dense Information Storage
 DNA computers have the ability to perform many
calculations simultaneously ,on the order of 10^9
calculations per ml of DNA per second!
 Many have predicted that Moore’s law (which states
that the microprocessors would double in complexity
every two years) will soon reach its end, because of
the physical speed and miniaturization limits of
silicon microprocessors.
 DNA computers have the potential to take
computing to new levels, picking up where Moore’s
law leave off.
How Enormous is the Parallelism?
 A test tube of DNA can contain huge numbers
of strands.
 When an operation is done on the test tube,
each of these DNA strands in that tube
undergo the same operation simultaneously.
i.e. Parallel Operations.
 How Extraordinary is the Energy
Efficiency?
 Dr. Adleman, in his experiments, figured that
his DNA computer can run 2x1019 operations
per joule.
 A normal computer using Pentium i7 processor
is able to run 2x105 operations per joule.
 A 2006 Super Computer was able to perform
2x109 operations per joule.
 Complementary Structure
 The bases A and T, and C and G, can bind
together, forming base pairs.
 Every DNA strand has its complement
structure.
 DNA and it’s complement bind together
(hybridize) to form a double stranded DNA.
 Presence of complementary structures makes
DNA a unique data structure for computation.
 Error correction is an exploitation of this
property.
 Double Stranded DNA

A – Adenine
C – Cytosine
G – Guanine
T – Thymine
 Hamiltonian Path Problem (HPP)
(Travelling Salesman Problem)

 The use of DNA in doing mathematical (logic)

problems was first identified by Dr. Adleman
in 7 point HPP.
Representation of 20 bases DNA strand
 Hamiltonian Path Problem (HPP)
 Adleman used a basic 7 city and 13 street model
for salesman problem and created DNA sequences
of 20 bases long to chemically represent each city.
 Complementary 20 base strand that overlaps each
city’s strand halfway represent each street.
 By placing few gm.of every DNA city and street
in a test tube and allowing natural bonding
tendencies to occur, the answer to the problem was
determined in less than 1 second!
 Hamiltonian Path Problem (HPP)
 Correct path was determined considering that
the correct path must start at A and end at G by
filtering strands of DNA.
 Remaining strands were then measured
through electrophoresis technique to determine
if the path they represent has passed through
all the 7 cities.
DNA CHIP
 Applications

 In Airlines to map efficient routes

 Information security for cracking secret codes

 Cryptography

 Biomedical & Pharmaceutical

-scientists predict a future where our bodies are patrolled by tiny
DNA computers that monitor our well-being and release the right
drugs to repair damaged or unhealthy tissue. They could act as
“Doctors in a cell”.
ADVANTAGES DIS-ADVANTAGES

 Parallel Processing  Require human

 Easily solve complex assistance
problems  Produce errors due to
 No power requirement unwanted chemical
 Cost-effective method. reactions
 Test tube environment is
far from practical
environment
 Human manipulation
needed.
 Conclusions
• The beauty of DNA research is found in the
possibility of mankind’s utilization of its very life
building blocks to solve its most difficult problems.
DNA computing research is going so fast that its
potential is still emerging. Scientists and
mathematicians around the world are now looking
at the application of DNA computers to a whole
range of “interactable” computing problems.
 References
• computer.howstuffworks.com
• users.aol.com/ibrandt/dna_computer.html
• arstechnica.com/reviews/2q00/dna/dna-1.html
• nationalgeographic.com
• cis.udel.edu
• hypography.com
• house.gov/science/landweber
• whyfiles.org/shorties/dna_computer.html
• www4.tpgi.com.au/users/aoaug/dna_comp.html
• newsscientist.com
• iturls.com/English/TechHotspot
• theindianprogrammer.com
• news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/ sci/tech
• chronicle.com/data/articles.dir
• olympus.co.jp/en/magazine/ TecZone
 Further Reading
• National Geographic Article, Computer Made
from DNA and Enzymes.
• Himanshu Thapliyal & M. B. Srinavas, An
Extension to DNA Based Fredkin Gate Circuits:
Design of Reversible Sequential Circuits using
Fredkin Gates.
• Will Ryu, DNA Computing, A Premier.
• Lipton R, DNA Solution of Hard Computational
Problems. Science. Vol. 268 (1995). 542-545.
Thank You..