- MAYA-II
MAYA-II (Molecular Array of
YES and AND logic gates) is aDNA computer , developed by scientists atColumbia University and theUniversity of New Mexico .Replacing the normally
silicon -based circuits, thischip hasDNA strand s to form the circuit. It is said that the speed that suchDNA -circuited computer chips can attain will rival and surpass the silicon-based ones, they will be of use in blood samples and in the body and might part-take in singlecell signaling .It is the successor to the
MAYA I which was composed of only 25 logic gates and could only complete a partial game oftic-tac-toe . MAYA-II has more than 100 DNA circuits and can now thoroughly play a game oftic-tac-toe . It is very slow - one move in a game of tic-tac-toe can take up to 30 minutes making it more of a demonstration than an actual application. [ [http://www.engadget.com/2006/10/16/meet-maya-ii-the-new-dna-computer-that-can-play-tic-tac-toe/ Meet MAYA-II, the new DNA computer that can play Tic-Tac-Toe - Engadget ] ]The arrangement of this device looks like that of a tic-tac-toe grid and consists of nine wells coated with
culture cell s. The cell-containing wells are filled with a solution that containDNA strand s coding for red or greenfluorescent dye s.This technology was used to deepen the quality of diagnostics given to patients infected with the
West Nile virus .Joanne Macdonald , a Columbia University virologist, hopes this device can be implanted in the human body and control the presence of cancer cells or the levels of insulin for diabetic patients. [http://acswebapplications.acs.org/applications/ccs/application/index.cfm?PressReleaseID=2724&categoryid=2]One of the suggested uses put forward by MAYA's creators is that technology such as this can be used in situations where fluid is involved, such as in a sample of blood or a body, since it does not use traditional silicon components. [https://digamma.cs.unm.edu/wiki/bin/view/McogPublicWeb/MolecularAutomataMAYAII MAYA-II]
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