DNA has been used to do simple number crunching before, but a system developed by Israeli scientists can effectively answer yes or no questions. Strands of DNA are designed to give off a green light corresponding to "yes".The team, led by Tom Ran and Ehud Shapiro of the Weizmann Institute in Israel, has been developing DNA-based computation systems for a number of years, including "computers" that can diagnose and treat cancers autonomously.
Imagine the Power of DNA
According to an article on HowStuffWorks, one pound of DNA has the capacity to store more information than all the electronic computers ever built; and the computing power of a teardrop-sized DNA computer will be more powerful than the world's most powerful supercomputer (RoadRunner).
A 1 cubic centimeter (0.06 cubic inches) DNA computer would be able to hold 10 Terabytes of data, and perform 10 trillion calculations at a time. By adding more DNA, more calculations could be performed.
Unlike conventional computers, DNA computers perform calculations parallel to other calculations. Conventional computers operate linearly, taking on tasks one at a time. It is parallel computing that allows DNA to solve complex mathematical problems in hours, whereas it might take electric computers hundreds of years to complete them.
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