Nanocomputing by Self-assembly

Biomolecular (DNA) computing is an emergent field of unconventional computing, lying at the crossroads of mathematics, computer science and molecular biology. The main idea behind biomolecular computing is that data can be encoded in DNA strands, and techniques from molecular biology can be used to perform arithmetic and logic operations. The birth of this field was the 1994 breakthrough experiment of Len Adleman who solved a hard computational problem solely by manipulating DNA strands in test-tubes. This led to the possibility of envisaging a DNA computer that could be thousand to a million times faster, trillions times smaller and thousand times more energy efficient than today’s electronic computers.

I will present one of the most active directions of research in DNA computing, namely DNA nanocomputing by self-assembly. I will namely discuss the computational potential of self-assembly, the process by which objects autonomously come together to form complex structures. I will bring forth evidence that self-assembly of DNA molecules can be used to perform computational tasks. Lastly, I will address the problem of self-assembly of arbitrarily large super-shapes, its solution and implications.