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Deoxyribozyme logic achievements and perspective

October 6, 2005

  • Date: Thursday, October 6, 2005 
  • Time: 11:00-12:15pm. 
  • Place: Woodward 149

Prof. Darko Stefanovic
Professor of Computer Science and Regents’ Lecturer

I will describe past and ongoing work in the Molecular Computing Group. In particular, I will describe our technology for amorphous bio-compatible computing, using deoxyribozyme-based logic gates.

Oligonucleotides can act as enzymes, or (deoxy)ribozymes, on other oligonucleotides, yielding oligonucleotide products. Moreover, these reactions can be controlled by inputs which are also oligonucleotides. We interpret these reactions as logic gates, and the concentrations of chemical species as signals. Since these reactions are homogeneous, i.e., they use oligonucleotides for both their inputs and their outputs, we can compose them to construct complex logic circuits.

I will describe the several kinds of logic gates we have developed, as well as their initial applications in simple feed-forward circuits, including arithmetic and game-playing automata. I will also demonstrate our open-system designs for a biomolecular realization of elementary components for a digital computer, including feedback circuits such as bistable memory elements (flip-flops) and oscillators. I will discuss the microfluidic setting for these devices.