- Leonard Adleman
Infobox_Scientist
name = Leonard Max Adleman
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birth_date = birth date and age|1945|12|31
birth_place = flagicon|United StatesCalifornia
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field =Computer Science Molecular Biology
work_institution =University of Southern California
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known_for =RSA DNA computing
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prizes =ACM Turing Award
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footnotes =Leonard Max Adleman (born
December 31 ,1945 ) is a theoretical computer scientist and professor ofcomputer science andmolecular biology at theUniversity of Southern California . He is known for being a co-inventor of theRSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) cryptosystem in 1977, and ofDNA computing . RSA is in widespread use in security applications, includinghttps .Born in
California , Adleman grew up inSan Francisco , and attended theUniversity of California, Berkeley , where he received his BA in mathematics in 1968 and his Ph.D. inEECS in 1976.In 1994, his paper "Molecular Computation of Solutions To Combinatorial Problems" described the experimental use of
DNA as a computational system. In it, he solved a seven-node instance of the Hamiltonian Graph problem, anNP-complete problem similar to thetraveling salesman problem . While the solution to a seven-node instance is trivial, this paper is the first known instance of the successful use of DNA to compute analgorithm . DNA computing has been shown to have potential as a means to solve several other large-scale combinatorial search problems.In 2002, he and his research group managed to solve a 'nontrivial' problem using DNA computation. Specifically, they solved a 20-variable 3-SAT problem having more than 1 million potential solutions. They did it in a manner not unlike the one Adleman used in his seminal 1994 paper. First, a mixture of DNA strands logically representative of the problem's solution space was synthesized. This mixture was then operated upon algorithmically using biochemical techniques to winnow out the 'incorrect' strands, leaving behind only those strands that 'satisfied' the problem. Analysis of the nucleotide sequence of these remaining strands revealed 'correct' solutions to the original problem.
For his contribution to the invention of the
RSA cryptosystem, Adleman was a recipient along withRon Rivest andAdi Shamir of the 2002ACM Turing Award , often called theNobel Prize of Computer Science.He is one of the original discoverers of the
Adleman-Pomerance-Rumely primality test .Fred Cohen , in his 1984 paper, "Experiments with Computer Viruses" has credited Adleman with coining the term "virus".Adleman was the mathematical consultant on the movie "Sneakers".
He has three children Jennifer (b. 1980) Stephanie (b. 1984) and Lindsey (b. 1987). Adleman is also an amateur boxer and has sparred with
James Toney . [Leonard Adleman spars with James Toney - [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4844815748117943530&hl=en http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4844815748117943530&hl=en] - 2 April 2008]See also
*List of famous programmers
* Important publications in cryptographyExternal links
* [http://www.usc.edu/dept/molecular-science/fm-adleman.htm Adleman's homepage]
* [http://awards.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=7308544&srt=year&year=2002&aw=140&ao=AMTURING Turing Award Citation]
* [http://www.usc.edu/dept/molecular-science/fm-sneakers.htm Mathematical consultant for movie "Sneakers"]
*References
Persondata
NAME= Adleman, Leonard Max
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Computer scientist, molecular biologist
DATE OF BIRTH=31 December 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH=California , U.S.
DATE OF DEATH=
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