Cellular 'Computers' Gain a Hard Drive
By Brendan Borrell,
Nature News
| 11. 14. 2014
Untitled Document
A new DNA-based recorder allows bioengineers to create cell cultures that detect information in their environment and store it for later use. Such 'designer' cells might in the future be used to monitor water quality in a village, or measure the amount of sugar a person eats. The technique is described this week in Science1.
In synthetic biology, genes are engineered to regulate each other's expression in such a way that they can perform logic operations similar to those in computer circuits. Memory storage has long been considered one of the key components needed to fulfil the promise of this technology.
“Building gene circuits requires not only computation and logic, but a way to store that information,” says bioengineer Timothy Lu of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. “DNA provides a very stable form of memory and will allow us to do more complex computing tasks.”
In previous synthetic-biology attempts, data storage has been laborious to create. It also recorded only the presence or absence of one particular sensory input, and could be used...
Related Articles
By Carl Zimmer, The New York Times | 06.04.2026
Scientists at Columbia University have edited the DNA of early human embryos with unprecedented accuracy, an achievement that could open the way to babies engineered with particular characteristics.
The prospect has fueled controversy for years. On the one hand, the...
By Alexandre Piquard, Le Monde [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 05.22.2026
"If proven to be safe, we believe preventive gene editing could be one of the most important health technologies of the century." This is how Lucas Harrington explained the goal of his company Preventive: to create genetically modified babies. Trying...
Faster, Higher, Stronger was the Olympic motto from 1874 until 2001, when “ – Together” was added, to stress the “moral and educational perspective” of the Games. The folks who paid for or participated in the Enhanced Games – the name itself a nod to the Olympics – held in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 24, apparently use a different edit:
Faster, Higher, Stronger with Chemistry
High-level sport draws huge crowds. Coming very soon, the soccer World Cup, featuring...
By Jenny Kleeman, The Guardian | 05.30.2026
On a Friday evening in late April, Cathy Tie, the Canadian serial entrepreneur and self-styled “Biotech Barbie”, is centre stage at New York City’s famous Carnegie Hall, performing Saint-Saens’ Piano Concerto No 2 on a gleaming Steinway grand piano, accompanied...
