DNA programming: How and why

Cello – the programming language of a living cell

iCover, Geektimes

The technology of the "Cello" program code, developed by a joint group of scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston University and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, allows you to register the required set of properties in the DNA of bacterial cells and create biological circuits with the necessary logical parameters, working right inside a living cell.

The concept of "Cello" is based on the ingeniously simple idea that the processes occurring in the biological cells of organisms can be programmed using methods similar to the computational algorithms of computer systems familiar to us. Using this premise, scientists were able to create a new programming language for logic gates based on nucleic acids. (The site of the "Cello" project requires prior registration – VM).

Experiments already conducted by a group of researchers have confirmed the viability of the theoretical concept of "Cello" in practice. The scale of the proposed ideas and the first results obtained look very impressive. During the experiments, working biological circuits were created, consisting of sequences of up to 12,000 DNA bases, which were based on seven basic logic elements. Using their algorithms, scientists have collected about 60 such biological circuits, 45 of which have repeatedly fulfilled their tasks in accordance with the program prescription. The study of the results of the first series of tests and the elimination of the identified bugs eventually allowed to bring the percentage of correctly working circuits to 95%.

"Working with bacteria, you use a text programming language in the same way as you program a computer or a microcontroller, but translating text information into the language of nucleic acids," explained Christopher Voigt, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "The text of the original program is transformed into a DNA sequence that is synthesized by any of the well–known and available methods and placed inside a living cell." It can be said that bacteria modified with the help of the "Cello" language literally turn into complex systems containing sensors of temperature, light level, acidity, oxygen level and other parameters of the environment surrounding the bacterium, which can be set artificially at their discretion.

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Based on the results of the experiments done, scientists can already remotely imagine how grandiose the potential of the "Cello" program code is and what level of problems it will help solve globally.

One of the planned directions is the creation of complex biological systems – "stations" inside the cell, allowing it to independently find, identify and neutralize foci of diseases by producing the currently necessary drug. And one of the first problems successfully solved on this path may be the problem of cancer: specially programmed bacterial cells, when meeting with pathological cancers, will be able to produce the necessary amount of the right medicine for local dosed exposure.

Another example is the creation of special yeast cells that will be able to stop their own fermentation process if too many toxic by–products are formed.

The prospects of using the "Cello" technology are not limited only to the medical direction. One of the many possible alternative uses is agriculture. In particular, it is allowed to treat plantings of various agricultural crops with bacteria programmed to produce insecticides – compounds that destroy harmful insects when they are detected.

Developing the idea, Voight predicts that the new language "Cello" has every chance of becoming a standard in the development of innovative biological circuits. And, importantly, the Cello algorithms will allow you to create a variety of biological schemes and then check their effectiveness very quickly and accurately. According to the laboratory of Professor Christopher Voight, all the details of the discovery will be provided and available for wide acquaintance and use free of charge. Such a generous gift of Professor Voight to humanity, of course, inspires for the good and, at the same time, is somewhat alarming, since it opens free access to our biological storeroom, and neither the professor nor anyone else can predict where, when, by whom and at what level this knowledge will be in demand.

The results of the work are published in the April issue of the journal Science

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  07.04.2016