Lecture 7 - Molecular Computing/Nanobots Flashcards
What is DNA?
Deoxyribonucleic acid
Four nucleotides that make up DNA?
Adenine, Guanine, Thymine, and Cytosine.
What are two huge advantages of using DNA as storage?
Durability - designed for the future and not expected to ever be out of functionality (unlike floppy disks etc)
Storage size - The theoretical limit of storage using DNA is above 1 EB/mm3 (A lot of memory in a tiny space)
One disadvantage of DNA storage?
Access time is extremely high relative to other storage devices
Three pros of DNA computing?
Information density - With 1 LB of DNA you have more computing power than all the computers ever made (apparently)
Parallel Processing - Good to solve complex problems quickly
Low Power - The only power needed it to keep DNA from denaturing
Cons of DNA computing?
Expensive
Error prone and sometimes difficult to reproduce
Application specific - hard to engineer - and hard to understand output
Simple problems are better solved with a regular computer
Manual intervention is often required
How can you use DNA computing to solve the travelling salesman problem?
Chain of nucleotides code for a chain of cities, these are then put in a test tube and replicated to come up with millions of different sequences. The right answer will be one of the sequences (but will need to be analysed via a computer, i think)
What is MAYA made up of?
X AND Y ANDNOT Z logic gates
What do the logic gates in MAYA do?
Perform Boolean logical operations on more than one input to produce an output
What can a single DNA molecule provide for a molecular automaton?
The input data and all of the necessary fuel for the molecular automaton
Chemical Computation:
f(x1)=2x1
X1 -> Y + Y
Chemical Computation:
min(x1,x2)
X1+X2 -> Y
This shows the minimum as the amount of Y that can be produced is constrained to the minimum amount of X1 and X2
Chemical Computation:
X1+X2
X1 -> Y
X2 -> Y
Chemical Computation:
Parity of X1
X1+N->Y
X1+Y-> N
My understanding is that this gives the parity by:
if you have even amounts of X1 you will get equal amounts of Y and N.
If you have odd amounts of X1 then you will end up with more Y than N or vice versa
Chemical Computation:
X1 > X2
X1 + Y -> N
X2 + N -> Y
If one is bigger than the other then there will be a halt in reactions as they may run out of X2 and thus Y and can no longer produce N etc
Intended Learning Outcomes
1) Know of examples of DNA computing.
2) Know the pros and cons of DNA computing compared
to traditional computing.
3) List applications of DNA computing
4) Write out Chemical Reaction Networks
If you were to put a book into DNA storage how would you be able to piece information together sequentially?
The DNA sequence which codes for a particular section comes with an address of where it fits.
What is used to replicate DNA molecules?
Polymersae chain reaction
How to make sure your DNA sequence is of the right length?
Use gel electrophoresis
Examples of DNA computing
Chess
Travelling salesman
tic tac toe
How does DNA chess work? (basic algorithm)
- Create all logical statements
- Destroy chains which contain illegal statments
- Read output (remaining chains are legal)
What is DNA origami?
Using knowledge of how different strands of DNA bind together to create shapes
What are some advantages of nanobots for cancer treatment?
Better targeted drug delivery
Better identification of tumours
What done to some nanobots to allow for better cell penetration into tumours?
Encapsulate the nanobots in a non-sticky case
