INTRODUCTION

Molecular computing is an emerging field to which chemistry, biophysics,

molecular biology, electronic engineering, solid state physics and computer science
contribute to a large extent. It involves the encoding, manipulation and retrieval of
information at a macromolecular level in contrast to the current techniques, which
accomplish the above functions
via IC miniaturization of bulk devices. The biological systems have unique
abilities such as pattern recognition, learning, self-assembly and self- reproduction
as well as high speed and parallel information processing. The aim of this article is to
exploit these characteristics to build computing systems, which have many
advantages over their inorganic (Si,Ge) counterparts.
Biomolecular Computer Operates A Billion Programs
Current computers consist of metal, plastic, wires and transistors. The manner in which
they process information is called linear because they conduct one computation at a time.
In the latest generation of computers, biological molecules replace all the components.
One advantage of these biomolecular computers over linear computers is their ability to
simultaneously carry out an enormous number of complex operations.

A new version of a biomolecular computer developed at the Technion-Israel Institute of

Technology - composed entirely of DNA molecules and enzymes - outdoes even the
fastest of its kind. It can perform as many as a billion different programs simultaneously.
Previous biomolecular computers, such as the one built by a joint team from the
Technion and the Weizmann Institute of Science three years ago, were limited to just 765
simultaneous programs.

This new computer is also autonomous; it processes calculations from beginning to end
without any human assistance. Other biomolecular computers require humans to analyze
and decipher results and perform intermediate tasks at different points in the process
before the computer can complete the operation.

"A final innovation is the incorporation of a gold-coated chip, which allows simple, real-
time readout of the results," said lead researcher Professor Ehud Keinan of the Technion
Faculty of Chemistry. He explained that results produced by current biomolecular
computers can only be analyzed by using elaborate techniques that include separating and
sorting molecules according to size and the use of radioactive materials.

The development of the Technion's biomolecular computer is reported in the March 2005
Journal of the American Chemical Society.

One of the most promising applications for such autonomous molecular computers would
be the encryption of images. Images could be encrypted on a chip containing the
equivalent of 41million pixels so that deciphering them would be impossible to those
without access to a secret key comprised of several short DNA molecules and several
enzymes. Only the image's creator, of course, would know this. Government agencies,
military, and the financial sector could utilize such encryption techniques. Another
benefit of such high pixelization: unmatched image quality and detail. By comparison,
the highest quality image from a professional grade, 6-megapixel digital camera is
comprised of "just" 6 million pixels.

Keinan and his team will now focus their efforts on creating more sophisticated
biomolecular computers, including ones whose final outputs are actual biological
functions. This would make possible the aforementioned encryption methods, as well as
disease detection and treatment.
The research was carried out with Technion graduate students Michal Soreni, Sivan
Yogev, Elizaveta Kossoy, and Prof. Yuval Shoham of the Faculty of Biotechnology and
Food Engineering.

The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is Israel's leading science and technology

university. Home to the country's only winners of the Nobel Prize in science, it
commands a worldwide reputation for its pioneering work in computer science,
biotechnology, water-resource management, materials engineering, aerospace and
medicine. The majority of the founders and managers of Israel's high-tech companies are
alumni. Based in New York City, the American Technion Society is the leading
American organization supporting higher education in Israel, with 17 offices around the
country.