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DNA As Electrical Conductor
Tekkaman writes: "Britannica Online has an interesting article about a new discovery about DNA which may lead to huge advancements in nanotechnology. Apparently, scientists have discovered how to create 'DNA wires'; that is, strands of DNA which can conduct electricity. Already ideas for biosensors that can detect abnormalities in DNA are being researched -- the possibilites seem boundless."
The concept was originally invented by two Swiss researchers, and was announced 1 1/2 year ago in Nature.
I thought it was a joke because it was released on April 1st, 1999...
As with ANY technology - it's just a tool, and it can be used for good or bad. Consider:
Cars: good uses - they can be used to transport us to fun events, bad uses - can be used as a getaway in a bank robbery
The Internet: good uses - Slashdot, Open Source, information transfer, bad uses - promoting paediophilia.
MP3 files: good uses - Frees musicians from the RIAA, bad uses - can be used for broadcasting hatred.
Airplanes: good uses - travelling to fun places, bad uses - Saddam Hussein using them to bomb the Kurds.
MySQL opensource database: good uses - storing messages for a web-board, bad uses - storing a hitman's target list.
Should we shun all these technologies because it is possible to use them for something bad?
Consider that instead of the company firing you because you have a gene for a certain disease, the technology can be used to CURE the disease before it even becomes a problem!
Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
Maybe historical DNA in your computer is going to be the next uber-geek chic.
"I think OJ did it... I mean... ever since I've been using his DNA, I've racked up a hell of a lot of frags..."
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In 1994, Len Adleman did an experiment involving getting DNA to solve a simple 7 city "travelling salesman" problem ( finding the shortest route between cities) using parallel processing.
The DNA computer he used consisted of 7 DNA strands each representing a "city" and 14 strands representing the "roads" connecting the cities. The calculation took about 1 second to complete. Cool huh?
Another interesting tidbit about DNA is that it is estimated that one cubic centimeter of DNA can store one trillion bits of information.
This sounds like it could be really cool in cybernetics. I'm surprised they didn't mention it, but I suppose that's a bit pie in the sky. I wonder if this could be used to fix severe nerve damage since that works on electrical system? The possibilities racing through my mind for this sort of thing is too great to write down at once.
-Jennifer
What we need to do now is harness DNA's ability to reproduce itself. Imagine, a circuit that can actually change it's physical wiring to handle new conditions and/or optimize itself...
It may look like I'm doing nothing, but I'm actively waiting for my problems to go away.
--Scott Adams
Extrapolating this to the nth degree, and we have the basis for the Star Trek universe tricorder. In it are a whole host of different DNA based conductive sensors. When one wants to make a scan, these DNA "masters" are duplicated using normal DNA copying. The copies are then exposed to the air or material to be scanned. The individual DNA sensors are then checked to see if they changed (i.e. detected what they were each designed to detect). Correlate the results and display to the user. Once scanning is complete, break down the DNA sensors into building blocks again, and add it to the "soup" used for making DNA copies.
Anyone have a spare patent application lying around? I think I've got a winner here. Oh, and can we get Congress to extend patent terms to lifetime + 70 years like copywrites? I need to protect my children's children's livelihood! They're going to make a mint off this 50 years from now when it's practical.