synthetic biology

You may wonder why synthetic biology is included here.

“living computers” that can solve complex logic problems.

Our brains are often compared to computers, but in truth, the billions of cells in our bodies may be a better analogy. The squishy sacks of goop may seem a far cry from rigid chips and bundled wires, but cells are experts at taking inputs, running them through a complicated series of logic gates and producing the desired programmed output.

BLADE (Boolean logic and arithmetic through DNA excision.)

"synthetic biology is like developing a new programming language. Cells are hardware, while DNA is the software that makes them run. With enough knowledge about how genes work, synthetic biologists believe that they will be able to write genetic programs from scratch, allowing them to build new organisms, alter nature and even guide the course of human evolution."

“We could use biologically responsive materials to create living circuits,” says study author Dr. Will Cao.

With living bacteria, “you could imagine making materials that could heal themselves and respond to environmental changes,”.

These hybrid materials are only in their infancy.