DNA computing

I was browsing through Orkut and saw a community called DNA computing. I was curious to know what it is, as i had never heard of anything like that. I googled on this topic and found that since 1994 lot of stuff has been happening in that arena i.e. using DNA to do things that we require. It seems one scientist mixed some DNA and enzymes and amino acids in a test tube and solved a mathematical problem!! Till now we are quite successful at using DNA for doing small calculations and games.

I also found an article in the New York Times dated today Nov 21 2003 which talks about DNA which can self-assemble an electronic circuit. Now that sounds like a sci-fi !!

This article talks about storing data in DNA. Its a known fact that we can insert plasmids, which are similar to DNA strands, into a cell and they will replicate them without fail during multiplication! so, in theory, if we code some data into a plasmid and inject it into a bacteria it will remain there for generations if we keep them alive!

Amazing stuff!!