This is the minuscule future of electronics.
A research team comprising of scientists from the University of Georgia (UGA) in the United States and Ben-Gurion University (BGU) in Israel believe that they have uncovered how nanoscale electronics can be constructed from DNA molecules.
It sounds like something from a science-fiction blockbuster, but it is just the next logical step for an industry that has been advancing at a remarkable rate.
“For fifty years, we have been able to place more and more computing power onto smaller and smaller chips,” begins Bingqian Xu, an associate professor at the UGA’s College of Engineering.
“But we are now pushing the physical limits of silicon. If silicon-based chips become much smaller, their performance will become unstable and unpredictable.”
So after almost exhausting the properties of silicon, scientists turned their attention to the predictability, diversity and ‘programmability’ of DNA.
In their study – that is available online through the journal Nature Chemistry – Xu and his fellow collaborators claim that they used a single molecule of DNA to create the world’s smallest diode.
In order to achieve this remarkable feat, the research scientists isolated a single duplex DNA of 11 base pairs and connected it to a minute electric circuit. They then inserted coralyne into the DNA and discovered that the current flowing through the string of DNA was 15 times stronger for negative voltages than positive voltages.
“Our discovery can lead to progress in the design and construction of nanoscale electronic elements that are at least 1,000 times smaller than current components,” Xu said.
The Israeli-American team plans to continue its work in this area.