EN
Molecular computers have existed on our planet
for more than 3.5 billion years. Molecular computing
devices, composed of biological substances such as nucleic
acids, are responsible for the logical processing of a variety
of inputs, creating viable outputs that are key components
of the cellular machinery of all living organisms. We have
begun to adopt some of the structural and functional
knowledge of the cellular apparatus in order to fabricate
nucleic-acid-based molecular computers in vitro and in
vivo. Nucleic acid computing is directly dependent on
advances in DNA and RNA nanotechnology. The field
is still emerging and a number of challenges persist.
Perhaps the most salient among these is how to translate
a variety of nucleic-acid-based logic gates, developed
by numerous research laboratories, into the realm of
silicon-based computing. This mini-review provides some
basic information on the advances in nucleic-acid-based
computing and its potential to serve as an alternative that
can revolutionize silicon-based technology.