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Biological Computer

The document discusses the potential for biological computers. It begins by discussing Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and how it envisioned creating life. It then discusses recent research creating basic biological computers using neurons from leeches that can perform simple math. Researchers hope these biological computers can solve problems autonomously unlike standard computers. The document also discusses potential medical applications, including implantable devices that can monitor cell activity and revolutionize medicine. One study programmed a biological computer in a test tube to diagnose and treat different forms of cancer. Researchers hope future biological computers can operate inside the body to detect and treat diseases at the cellular level.

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Ankit Mishra
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4K views10 pages

Biological Computer

The document discusses the potential for biological computers. It begins by discussing Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and how it envisioned creating life. It then discusses recent research creating basic biological computers using neurons from leeches that can perform simple math. Researchers hope these biological computers can solve problems autonomously unlike standard computers. The document also discusses potential medical applications, including implantable devices that can monitor cell activity and revolutionize medicine. One study programmed a biological computer in a test tube to diagnose and treat different forms of cancer. Researchers hope future biological computers can operate inside the body to detect and treat diseases at the cellular level.

Uploaded by

Ankit Mishra
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Biological Computer

From Enlightenment to Abomination?

by
Lokesh Mishra
CS Branch
S.P.M.I.T
The First Biological Computer?

► English Romantic novelist, biographer and editor, best known as the


writer of FRANKENSTEIN, OR, THE MODERN PROMETHEUS (1818).
Mary Shelley was 21 when the book was published; she started to
write it when she was 18. The story deals with an ambitious young
scientist. He creates life but then rejects his creation, a monster.
Off Topic?

► While “FRANKENSTEIN, OR, THE MODERN


PROMETHEUS (1818),” is science fiction. It seems
to be founded on some science. The human body
does require some amount of electricity and along
with the “body,” a brain, or central processor, to
mange the many processes it’s been programmed
to run. So, it is conceivable that in theory albeit
very simplistic terms, the human body can be
automated with sufficient power and a brain to
carry out instructions.
The Computer Today
► Technically, a computer is a programmable machine.
This means it can execute a programmed list of
instructions and respond to new instructions that it is
given. Today, however, the term is most often used to
refer to the desktop and laptop computers that most
people use. When referring to a desktop model, the
term "computer" technically only refers to the
computer itself -- not the monitor, keyboard, and
mouse. Still, it is acceptable to refer to everything
together as the computer. If you want to be really
technical, the box that holds the computer is called
the "system unit."
Biological Computers Today

► A computer made of neurons taken from leeches has been created by US


scientists. At the moment, the device can perform simple sums - the team calls
the novel calculator the "leech-ulator".
► But their aim is to devise a new generation of fast and flexible computers that
can work out for themselves how to solve a problem, rather than having to be
told exactly what to do.
► Professor Bill Ditto, at the Georgia Institute of Technology, is leading the
project and says he is amazed that today's computers are still so dumb.
► "Ordinary computers need absolutely correct information every time to come
to the right answer," he says. "We hope a biological computer will come to the
correct answer based on partial information, by filling in the gaps itself."
Medical Applications
► Scientists developed tiny implantable biocomputers

► Molecular devices’ remarkably precise scans of


cellular activity could revolutionize medicine

► Researchers at Harvard and Princeton universities


have taken a crucial step toward building biological
computers, tiny implantable devices that can
monitor the activities and characteristics of human
cells. The information provided by these “molecular
doctors,” constructed entirely of DNA, RNA, and
proteins, could eventually revolutionize medicine by
directing therapies only to diseased cells or tissues.
Biological computer diagnoses cancer
and produces drug – in a test tube
► Weizmann Institute scientist’s vision: Microscopic computers will function inside
living tissues, performing diagnosis and administering treatment.
► The world's smallest computer (around a trillion in a drop of water) might one day go on
record again as the tiniest medical kit. Made entirely of biological molecules, this computer
was successfully programmed to identify (in a test tube) changes in the balance of
molecules in the body that indicate the presence of certain cancers, to diagnose the type of
cancer, and to react by producing a drug molecule to fight the cancer cells.
► As in previous biological computers produced in Shapiro's lab, input, output and "software"
are all composed of DNA, the material of genes, while DNA-manipulating enzymes are used
as "hardware." The newest version's input apparatus is designed to assess concentrations of
specific RNA molecules, which may be overproduced or under produced, depending on the
type of cancer. Using pre-programmed medical knowledge, the computer then makes its
diagnosis based on the detected RNA levels. In response to a cancer diagnosis, the output
unit of the computer can initiate the controlled release of a single-stranded DNA molecule
that is known to interfere with the cancer cell's activities, causing it to self-destruct.
► In one series of test-tube experiments, the team programmed the computer to identify RNA
molecules that indicate the presence of prostate cancer and, following a correct diagnosis,
to release the short DNA strands designed to kill cancer cells. Similarly, they were able to
identify, in the test tube, the signs of one form of lung cancer. One day in the future, they
hope to create a "doctor in a cell", which will be able to operate inside a living body, spot
disease and apply the necessary treatment before external symptoms even appear.
Risk-Benefit Analysis: Animated
Corpse
► The idea of animating a corpse as in Mary’s
Shelly’s tale. Assuming it can even be done.
Benefits: Understanding the mechanics of the
human physiology in a new way.
► Risks: The general consensus might consider the
idea or practice inhuman. Who would volunteer
his/her body? How long would these subjects be
kept “alive.” The practice would enrage certain
pro-life or pro-dead groups.
► DQ would be LOW
Risk-Benefit Analysis: Bilogical Computer
for Medical or Scientific Advancement
► Tiny “doctors” monitoring diseases within patients
and administering the correct medicines in correct
doses.
► Tiny computers: cheap to “manufacture.” Able to
run BILLIONS upon BILLIONS of calculations.
► Risks: Technology is it’s infancy. Will take some
time to mature. Potential to save lives and offer a
better quality of life is high.
► DQ would be HIGH.
References
► Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851) - original surname Godwin
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/mshelley.htm

 Definition of Computer
http://www.techterms.com/definition/computer

► Sci/Tech Biological computer born


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/358822.stm

► In a first, scientists develop tiny implantable biocomputers


http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2007/05.24/99-biocomputer.html

► Biological computer diagnoses cancer and produces drug – in a test tube


http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-04/wi-bcd042604.php

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