NanoScienceWorks

Imperial College Scientists Build Computing Building Blocks from E.Coli

The design and function of the “biological logic gates” replicate traditional logic gates used in silicon circuitry, said Prof. Richard Kitney, of the Centre for Synthetic Biology and Innovation and Imperial’s Department of Bioengineering. The logic gate was built from E.Coli modified with DNA to reprogram it to perform the same switching on and off process as its electronic equivalent when stimulated by chemicals.

Although practical applications are still a long way off, the Imperial team said such biological logic gates could be used in microscopic biological computers or biosensors that could operate within the human body.