What is Digg?58 Comments
- baltakatei, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12I said 2^19, not 2x10^19. I apologize for not conforming to scientific notation.
2^19 come out to 524,288. From a cursory search on microbiology, an independent bacterium needs only around 600,000 base pairs. - PhantomBantam, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10"As of now, the DNA computer can only perform rudimentary functions, and it has no practical applications. "Our computer is programmable, but it's not universal," said Shapiro. "There are computing tasks it inherently can't do.""
ouch... still interesting. - tweeto, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Normally I would have been excited of these kind of thing ( I'm Israeli ) but please check the date - February 24, 2003 ! ! !
- baltakatei, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Even though the article is 3 years old, this is news to me. Would DNA computers use base four numbers for computing (A,T,G,C)? That would make for some interesting encryption techniques. Considering the smallest independant bacteria has on the order of 2^19 base pairs in its genome.... That's security!
- superfunkypants, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6OLD NEWS! There's a whole field of DNA computing. Furthermore, this same research group in 2004 published a Nature paper where their molecular computer actually did something interesting: detect a cancerous mRNA and release a "drug" non-cancerous mRNA. Long long long way to go before it can actually be used in vivo.
- akilleen, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5It probably already runs NetBSD.
- trogdoor, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6But can it run linux?
- Empyrean, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Well if this is 3 years old, I wonder what advancments have been made since then? Would be interesting to find a follow-up.
- tylerni7, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Everything can run linux
- SecondChild, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Playing Halo on their new RNA model.
- cathode, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I already have a computer that runs on DNA. My brain.
- 3vil, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Well even if its old news to these posters, I missed it way back in 2004, this is the first I have ever heard of it. So I guess it wasn't all for nothing.
- superfunkypants, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3The biggest misconception here is that DNA Computing is strictly related to genomics.
DNA is a programmable molecule that has interesting and specific binding properties. DNA (and RNA) has a sequence which is CODEABLE and can make far more shapes than just a double helix. It has been shown that you can control and exploit these properties to produce machinery that can INTERPRET an INPUT molecule, PROCESS THE DATA, and OUTPUT a specific result molecule. This is a computer. Just not one you are used to.
Read an abstract here:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v429/n6990/abs/nature02551.html - in4mation, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2That was in 2003. Where are they today?
- heymark, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2But will it run Vista?
- cathode, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Don't forget AI... a very neat concept
- L.Jenkins, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Now I didn't read the article, but based on the description this sounds great! I mean, a computer that runs on DNA, that's perfect! Because with all this pr0n on my HDD, I'm producing like a cup of DNA a day, and its just being wasted. So if my computer can RUN on that...well that's progress.
- superfunkypants, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The work of Erik Winfree or Leonard Adleman (the A in RSA encryption) might be a good start.
- superfunkypants, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1A DNA computer hit the general consumer market? ...Never.
Having a doctor inject a nano-scale DNA computer into your body to fight cancer, possibly 20 years from now. It can already be done in vitro. It would take about 20 years to figure out if it can be done in vivo. - midorigin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Old, true, but I'm trying to do my part to get us (Digg) a little more interested in science. These cool-but-not-inaccurate stories are just the right thing to draw attention to the field. +PropagandaDigg
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Portuguese / Brazilian : http://www.htk.com.br/noticia.php?noticia=195
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http://www.htk.com.br/ - crosswick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1On the concept of DNA as computer, I can really recommend this article, 'far-out' as it may be:
http://www.fosar-bludorf.com/archiv/biochip_eng.htm
It's about how the 95% of seemingly non-functional "junk" DNA might actually be the world's most impressive information repository, intrically networked through superconductance and light resonance. Or sumptin'. - szelij, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1So can we play nethack on it or not?
- schrizto, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1this is a really old article, it's from 3 years ago.
- Lord_oftheTrons, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I remember reading about this in "The Singularity Is Near". A good read if you haven't picked it up yet.
- matthewecornish, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Very cool, though wouldn't mind knowing more on what progress is being made. A job for google me thinks...
- LoTek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Ha Ha! I already got me a DNA processor.
They're slow and prone to substantial memory errors. - carpespasm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1hmm, reminds me of existenz
- NiX0n, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I wonder if this could potentially be used in GPUs. Just imagine how great games would be if DNA was rendering that quick.
- psbp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This reminds me of battle star galactica. How the cylons are organic and look like humans though they started as machines. And they are some how able to transmit information though they have no computer chip in them. Maybe this is how!
- Abram730, on 05/07/2008, -0/+1A few trillion made linux lol.
- zagi1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1can't wait to write Linux drivers for the enzymes hardware.
- o0joshua0o, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Does this mean that eventually we'll be able to stop using silicon-based computers in favor of DNA-based ones? What would a robot based on DNA computing look like?
- Flankk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1By the time Vista is released, it will. Just don't inject yourself with the DNA after your installation. You risk mutating into a chair-throwing Ballmer.
- speedo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0i found this from a website : ''A scientific discovery to alter DNA and create a biological virus that will be used in the manufacture of computer chips''
Someone was shown the future : http://www.near-death.com/experiences/research32.html you can find it in the section of (Dannion Brinkley's major prophetic visions yet to happen) - psyberweb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0i am interested about the progress of DNA computing these days..
- superfunkypants, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I don't think you understand how DNA computing works.
- jackadams76, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It's Ziggy!
- Lewie, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Even if it were limited, what we could get it to do would be performed at phenominal speeds! Digital processing anyone?
Also, if a DNA computer continues to use fuel on an ATP-size scale, energy savings would be huge. Organisms are perhaps the most fuel efficient machines in existance.
Does this sound like Star Trek Voyager's "gel-packs" to anyone else? - SecondChild, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Could be cool, provided that someday it could be integrated into a typical PC setup, perhaps as a subprocessing unit for specific types of calculations.
- Mongoose, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Very cool. I just sent the link to my biology teacher.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Wait, what's vivo?! Is that some nextgen tivo??? I WANT ONE!
:) no.. i don't.. i don't even watch tv. - hellno, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0DNA computers? Hello... not happening. Do you honestly think that these things will hit the market within the next ten years?
- lollerskates, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Finally, a way to make use of my porn habit to power my PC!
- aTTo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Spanish translate in http://www.forofriki.com/?p=43
- kohan69, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1That's BULL, if it can't run code it's not a computer.
Any living thing is a "biological computing device" - GiggleStick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Wow, I think you might have a little extra DNA or something.
- superfunkypants, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Where did you dig up this crackpot garbage? Are people actually willing to believe crap like this?
The authors don't have the slightest grasp of biology or biophysics. They make tons of assumptions which aren't true. Most importantly, THEY DO NOT HAVE ANY EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER.
Moreover, THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH DNA COMPUTING! - hellno, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0No *****, sherlock. But im just saying why are people commenting on things like porn watching when this thing is gonna take decades to develop for widespread sale.
- CaughtThinking, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3This creeps me out on so many levels. I used to be a geneticist in the making until I realized what a corporate and moral nightmare genetic work is. I figured programming is a safe, interesting alternative.
When I think of the future of general computing using a genome as the next level of innovation though, I think of artificial intelligence, and for the first time in my life, I'm fearful of the possibility of Skynet becoming a reality. -
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