Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Making Computer Memory From a Virus

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the at-the-speed-of-sick dept.

An Ac writes, "By coating 30-nanometre-long chunks of tobacco mosaic virus with platinum nanoparticles, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have created a transistor with very fast switching speed. They say it could eventually be used to make memory chips for MP3 players and digital cameras. A device fitted with such a virus-chip would access data much more quickly than one using flash memory."

1 of 196 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Ethical concerns by jginspace · · Score: 5, Informative

    This raises an ethical concern for me. I think we should be asking ourselves "Is it really ok to subvert lifeforms like this for our own use?"


    Most would consider a virus to be non-living. See Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virus