OLYMPUS TECHNOZONE Vol.54 2002-08
|
INDEX
| 1
| 2
| 3
| 4
| 5
| 6
| 7
| 8
| 9
| |
|
Nanotechnology
will drive the evolution of
the DNA molecule as functional components
|
What are the possibilities of nanotechnology?
I think that it is a very promising area of
research. Many researchers in Europe and the United States believe
that it may be possible to explore nanotechnology using DNA computers.
Yet, however powerful the theoretical computing capacity of such
a computer, the idea is meaningless unless we have a reaction that
will achieve the expected level of performance. We need research
to make that possible.
I see. In other words, there are right applications
and wrong applications. You always say that we should not use a
DNA computer to perform basic arithmetic. An application that addresses
Olympus's need for parallel processing to handle the vast amounts
of information required for gene analysis will be appropriate.
Indeed. In terms of size, the hybrid DNA computer
that we have developed uses a bio-assay robot to carry out molecular
calculations. That is why it is so bulky, like the early electronic
computers. We should be able to build a compact, high-performance
DNA computer by using micro analytical devices, such as Lab-on-Chip
and  -TAS,
or microchips with chemical reaction circuits mounted on substrates
to carry out the analysis reactions. With microchips, however,
we cannot install a large reaction vessel to hold the large amounts
of DNA molecules required to support massively parallel computing
and provide vast memory capacity.
Another issue is the fact that DNA molecules
are not as durable as the silicon from which microchips are made.
That's right. DNA molecules are relatively
durable for biological polymers, but they will not withstand repeated
use over long periods of time like the semiconductor chips in electronic
computers. However, this lack of durability will not be a problem,
since in principle the DNA will only be used once and then discarded
in the case of gene analysis and similar applications, because
of the risk of erroneous results due to contamination by other
specimens. Moreover, the key characteristic of DNA computers is
not the potential for massively parallel computing, but rather
the ability to process actual molecules as input and output data.
It is not necessary to have a large reaction vessel to accommodate
reactions involving vast quantities of molecules. A small reaction
vessel in which trace quantities can be analyzed is more desirable.
It should be possible to reduce the size of Olympus's hybrid DNA computer by
applying micromachinery technology to the molecular computation unit and integrated
circuit technology to the electronic computation units. I believe that we can
develop a compact hybrid DNA computer that uses microchips by taking advantage
of the advances in both technologies.
The computers might even be small enough for
bedside use in hospitals.
Indeed. And the next step after the bioassay
robot model and the microchip model will be a DNA computer with
hardware made solely from DNA molecules. At that stage, the data
and programs that were stored in the electronic computer part of
the hybrid DNA computer would be incorporated into the DNA molecules
themselves. Then we would enter the world of nanotechnology. |
