Scientists Build A Living Computer That Grows Its Own Processors

Researchers have built an experimental biocomputer that uses living bacteria to solve complex mathematical problems simultaneously.

Forget silicon chips and cooling fans for a moment, because the future of computing might actually be swimming in a nutrient broth. After 20 years, an international team of scientists led by McGill University has successfully developed a working biocomputer powered by living bacteria like E. coli and V. natriegens. Instead of processing information through rigid decision trees that test solutions one by one (which can bog traditional computers on tough math problems down), this biological setup lets nature do the heavy lifting by exploring multiple pathways at once.

Here is how it works. The researchers utilized the Subset Sum Problem, a mathematical decision and optimization problem that starts out simple, but gets exponentially harder as input increases, which is run into a microscopic network of tiny, interconnected channels. They then introduce the bacteria...

Copyright of this story solely belongs to hothardware.com. To see the full text click HERE