Transcript RichardAnderson-HW4

Computer Scientist and Molecular Biologists are working to develop Biological Computers from a variety of
biological materials. This is not science fiction. The examples listed below have been tested to some degree.
Although it will be years before a practical version is available, the potential exists that could lead to the
development of the fastest computers ever.
On May 30, 1996, Seymour Cray (inventor of the Cray Supercomputer), gave a talk titled “ An Imaginary Tour
of a Biological Computer”. He basically described how a Human Cell was very much like a computer and
how it worked like a computer. It’s to bad he didn’t live long enough to see his vision come to fruitarian. He
was killed that same year in an auto accident in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Leech Neuron Computer
A computer made of neurons taken from
leeches has been created by US scientists.
This device was able to think for itself
because the leech neurons are able to form
their own connections between each other.
Slime Mold Computer
The slime mold performed complex
operations, such as completing
mathematical constructs such as a spanning
tree diagram and the Voronoi diagram,
which is a collection of geometric objects
that are a partition of space into cells.
DNA Computers
More than 10 trillion DNA molecules can fit
into an area no larger than 1 cubic
centimeter (0.06 cubic inches). With this
small amount of DNA, a computer would be
able to hold 10 terabytes of data, and
perform 10 trillion calculations at a time. By
adding more DNA, more calculations could
be performed.
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http://www.psfk.com/2009/09/biological-computing-robots-made-of-mold.html
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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090827073256.htm
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http://www.microbeworld.org/index.php?option=com_jlibrary&view=article&id=3197
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http://www.tech-faq.com/dna-computer.html
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http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-dna-computer.htm
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sci/tech/358822.stm
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http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/2006/02/the_rise_of_the.html
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http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/comphist/montic/cray.htm#cr2