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Chris Dwyer
A close-up of a DNA-based, waffle-like nanostructure that engineers think could be at the heart of tomorrow's computers.
Engineers have long dreamed of using DNA as the backbone for the next generation of computer circuits. New research shows just how it might be done.
Instead of conventional circuits built of silicon that use electrical current, computer engineers could take advantage of the unique properties of DNA, the double-helix molecule that carries life’s information.
“Conventional technology has reached its physical limits," said Chris Dwyer, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering.
Dwyer recently demonstrated that by simply mixing customized snippets of DNA and other molecules, he could create billions of identical, tiny, waffle-looking structures.
These nanostructures can then be used as the building blocks for a variety of circuit-based applications, ranging from the biomedical to the computational.
Key to the promise of these DNA nanostructures is an ability to rapidly "switch" between zeros or ones -- the basic on/off binary action that powers computation. Light can be used to stimulate similar binary responses from DNA-based switches, though at a much faster rate than in silicon.
“When light is shined on the chromophores" -- parts of DNA responsible for its color -- "they absorb it, exciting the electrons,” Dwyer said. “The energy released passes to a different type of chromophore nearby that absorbs the energy and then emits light of a different wavelength. That difference means this output light can be easily differentiated from the input light, using a detector.”
Dwyer added: "This is the first demonstration of such an active and rapid processing and sensing capacity at the molecular level."
Building computers with life's building blocks
