Microbes-calculators

Bacteria capable of dividing, calculating logarithms and extracting square roots have been created

DailyTechInfo based on Popular Science: This Bacterium Can Do Division, Compute Logarithms And Take Square RootsA group of bioengineering scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has created "analog calculators" based on living single-celled microorganisms.

According to an article published in the online edition of Nature (Daniel et al., Synthetic analog computation in living cells - VM), researchers, by making changes to the bacterial gene pool, were able to create circuits that can perform various calculations, including division, multiplication, calculation of logarithms and extraction of square roots, in a much more efficient way, than other biocomputers that exist today.

Using "analog" computational schemes based on the natural biochemical functions of living cells, the researchers managed to achieve more accurate calculations than can be achieved using digital discrete logic. It is known that digital circuits work with information encoded as a sequence of zeros and ones, in contrast, analog circuits can work with a continuous stream of data, taking into account intermediate values.

"Unlike digital, analog computing methods are very fast and efficient," says Rahul Sarpeshkar, one of the scientists who participated in these studies, "Creating analogs of digital circuits inside living cells would require deeper and extensive genetic intervention, which could lead to the complete non–viability of the microorganisms used.".

Artificial digital circuits that extract square roots consist of at least 100 logic elements, while an analog circuit made by specialists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology consists of only two parts. To create circuits capable of multiplying and dividing, the researchers combined two chains using genes for the production of green fluorescent protein (GFP). One of the chains uses a monosaccharide called arabinose, and the second uses a special kind of "signaling" molecules called AHL. The concentrations of the above substances are used as input data, and the result of the calculations is the total concentration of the GFP protein produced. Unfortunately, such a biochemical computer has limitations related to the range of values of the input signals and the results obtained, which currently ranges from 0 to 10000 units.

The ultimate goal of these studies is to create analog computing circuits not in the cells of microorganisms, but in the cells of more complex and larger living organisms, including mammals. In addition, a group of researchers is constantly working on the creation of new gene chains and computational elements that will allow implementing more complex computational functions. "We have just finished studying what complex analog feedback circuits can do in living cells," Rahul Sarpeshkar said, "Such functions in the future can be used not only to diagnose the state of the body, but also to treat certain types of diseases."

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