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Computing with DNA

Aired January 29 and 30, 2000

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This is Internet On The Air. I'm Joan Silvi. How will biology change the future of computing? Details in a moment.

Funding Credit: Internet On The Air is a production of the University of Michigan School of Information and Michigan radio, made possible by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

When they hear the word 'computer', most people think of the PC or Macintosh sitting on their desk. But computers are as old as the human race. People first used their fingers for basic math computations. Later, the abacus and mechanical adding machines helped humans in their calculations. Now, researchers investigating biological computing are manipulating DNA strands to solve complex problems. The first experiments using DNA computing took place in 1994. Since then, researchers have continued to explore different models for how we can use biology to compute.

Ruzena Bajcsy is the Assistant Director for Computer and Information Science and Engineering, or CISE, at the National Science Foundation. Through a number of programs, CISE grants funds to institutions engaged in research. Bajcsy feels biological computing is one important area that scientists need to explore.

Eventually, the storage space and speed of electronic computers will reach their physical limit. If computers are to continue evolving, we will need a new paradigm. One practical alternative might be DNA. For millions of years, plants and animals have used DNA and biological processes to store genetic information and make the necessary computations to survive. In the future, we might be using this internal technology outside our bodies, as well. One researcher estimates a single DNA memory could hold more data than all the electronic computer memories that have ever been made.

To learn more about the potential of DNA computing, and to hear an interview with Ruzena Bajcsy, visit our Web site at www.iota.org. For Internet On The Air, I'm Joan Silvi.

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Related Links

For further information, try these Web sites:

• Ruzena Bajcsy is the Assistant Director, responsible for the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering at the National Science Foundation.
  
  
• Much of the information on DNA Computing available through the Web is based at academic institutions:
  • University of Delaware
  • The Bio Computing Group at Wayne State University
  • Princeton University, where researchers recently created an RNA Computer.
    
    
• Several readable texts, comprehensible to the layman, also exist:
  • DNA Computing by Mike Wisz
  • Simple Guide to DNA Computing by Yali Friedman.
  • What is DNA Computing? from the FAQ at RSA Security.
    
    
• BioSystems: Journal of Biological and Information Processing Sciences encourages experimental, computational, and theoretical articles that link biology, evolutionary thinking, and the information processing sciences.

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The Interview

IOTA interviewed Ruzena Bajcsy in January 2000.

How will the boundaries between scientific disciplines change in the future?

Will new disciplines be created or will researchers continue to work from their traditional scientific area?

CISE grants funds to researchers involved in a variety of computing and engineering research projects. How many recent grant proposals came from departments outside of computer science?

You give talks at Engineering and Computer Science schools - have you ever been invited to speak in a Biology department?

How long will it take before we see the products of this biological computing research?

Will the way people interact with computers change because of this new technology, or will the changes be on the inside?

Please direct questions or comments to iota.webmaster@umich.edu.

Last Updated January 28, 2000