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Linked Lists In DNA

Posted by timothy on from the but-can-they-pass-the-turing-test dept.

skilbeck draws your attention to this report in the BBC Science section, writing: "In brief: Cillia, a family of 2 billion year old micro-organisms, use Linked Lists to sort and shuffle their own DNA... I knew linked lists were old hat, but 2 billion years..."

14 comments

  1. Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Single or double linked lists?
    Do they use the cool xor trick if double?
    Are they cicular?
    Wouldn't trees be more efficient? :)

    1. Re:Really? by FortKnox · · Score: 1

      Trees ARE linked lists, just a level up from the base class. The question, know that we know the base, is to understand the inherited data structures created. Queue? Stack? Tree? Map? Hash? Who knows what's goin on in the DNA now...

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      Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
  2. The real surprise... by Black+Parrot · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...is that the DNA was written in Lisp.

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    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    1. Re:The real surprise... by DJerman · · Score: 2
      DNA was written in Lisp.

      That explains all the sections that seem to contain no information -- parentheses.....

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  3. Traveling *salesman* problem? by mfarah · · Score: 1
    The field of DNA computing was kicked off in 1994 when Leonard Adleman used strands of DNA to solve a simple example of a mathematical conundrum known as the Travelling Salesman Problem. This involves working out the shortest path that takes in all points on a given route.



    Considering the Cilia's linked list capability, and the fact they're so successful, I think we should rename the problem to Traveling cilia.

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  4. Ten Years From Now... by pagsz · · Score: 3, Funny

    Introducing the Intel Paramecium II processor, harnessing the power of millions of ciliates for your computing needs.

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    -- If any of the above made sense, I assure it was purely by accident.
    1. Re:Ten Years From Now... by vila · · Score: 2, Funny

      An Intel chip with another bug in it. I can't wait :-)

  5. Patent pending no more. by JonMartin · · Score: 1

    Well there goes my attempt to patent linked lists. Oh well, I still have that gene responsible for feet to try...
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    Serve Gonk.

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    Serve Gonk.
    1. Re:Patent pending no more. by DJerman · · Score: 2
      I still have that gene responsible for feet to try...

      One more reason to go metric....

      yes, it has been a long day. Thanks for asking :-).

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  6. One Big Program by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Maybe this is the meaning of life. All life being different "Programs". If this is the case, what version is H Sapiens? Is it and other life open source? Is it stable? Can it be ported to Linux? Should the DOJ get involved?

    1. Re:One Big Program by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry, forgot the obligatory Beowolf Cluster comment.

    2. Re:One Big Program by Winged+Cat · · Score: 3, Funny

      Maybe this is the meaning of life. All life being different "Programs". If this is the case, what version is H Sapiens?
      Versionless. Evolution just keeps hacking away.
      Is it and other life open source?
      All life on Earth is unlicensed - technically pirated, if one assumes the need for an explicit license. There have been no all-out enforcement attempts thus far, although certain branches of the code tree have been purged, especially by the H. Sapiens branch as it seeks to acquire more resources for its own runtime.
      Is it stable?
      No. In fact, any given instance of any branch is guaranteed to crash sooner or later - though there is work on fixing this bug, especially for the H. Sapiens branch.
      Can it be ported to Linux?
      In theory, although the emulators are severely limited at the moment. Fortunately, emulator development is getting lots of funding.
      Should the DOJ get involved?
      It already is, in some ways.

  7. Bad pun alert by gusnz · · Score: 1

    This is getting cilia and cilia.

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  8. I wonder... by Polo · · Score: 2

    If they will eventually be prior art for other algorithms...