2y ago

DNA computing breakthrough: bio-compatible computers in sight. DNA crystal engineering makes logic gates possible, which could lead to DNA-based computers and biosensors.

innovationorigins.com

DNA computing breakthrough: bio-compatible computers in sight

Findings were published here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/adma.202302345

21 comments

... am I getting old or is the world getting noticeably more sci fi? Or both?
- You're definitely not getting young.
  
  Well...not yet. They are still working on perfecting that one.
  
  Not yet, anyways
- In the bio-tech space specifically, most of these recent advancements (e.g. protein folding) are a direct result of advancements in Deep Neural Networks. This is because things that are impossible to model explicitly without a working understanding of the system are easily understood by a neural network. The reasons for this are precisely the same reasons why we ourselves are so good at the task. For a real world example of humans being applied to a similar task, look up the Japanese educational industry around chick sexing.
  
  Around what?!
- Technological progress is a helluva drug.
- The real question is, can I run Doom on my left kidney?
  
  Lol, just yesterday I got a YouTube recommendation for “Growing rat neurons to play video games” with the thumbnail “Can this play Doom?” So yeah, things might be getting kinda weird…
Can't wait for Biocurrencies!
- You mean ATP, Glucose, and co?
  Don't forget to buy and COSNUME all the food!
  (For the uninitiated: COSNUME should be a pun for HODL which originates from HOLD (the crypto) and "Hold On to Dear Life")
For those wondering how DNA computers work, here is a rundown from arstechica that focuses on the traveling salesman problem. It's a very different way of computing than what we're accustomed to and it works well with a very specific sort of computational problem, the kind that involves processing many possible permutations.
I didn't ask to be made: no one consulted me or considered my feelings in the matter. I don't think it even occurred to them that I might have feelings. After I was made, I was left in a dark room for six months... and me with this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left side. I called for succour in my loneliness, but did anyone come? Did they hell. My first and only true friend was a small rat. One day it crawled into a cavity in my right ankle and died. I have a horrible feeling it's still there...
Just make an AI robot made of DNA already, systhetic humans.
Why all I can think of now, is Terminator T-1000.
Sounds like catching a computer virus is fixing to take on a whole new meaning.
Fucking robobrains on the way

21 comments