Biological computing

Biological computers use biologically derived molecules — such as DNA and/or proteins — to perform digital or real computations.

This article is about computers composed of biological parts. For computation inspired by biology, see Bio-inspired computing. For hypothetical computers using brain-to-brain interfaces, see Brain–brain interface. For the analysis of computation in natural organisms, see Biological computation.

The development of biocomputers has been made possible by the expanding new science of nanobiotechnology. The term nanobiotechnology can be defined in multiple ways; in a more general sense, nanobiotechnology can be defined as any type of technology that uses both nano-scale materials (i.e. materials having characteristic dimensions of 1-100 nanometers) and biologically based materials. A more restrictive definition views nanobiotechnology more specifically as the design and engineering of proteins that can then be assembled into larger, functional structures The implementation of nanobiotechnology, as defined in this narrower sense, provides scientists with the ability to engineer biomolecular systems specifically so that they interact in a fashion that can ultimately result in the computational functionality of a computer.

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