What will future generations of computers look like? One possibility is computers implemented in single molecules. In this course, we will explore the technology and possibility of molecular computers. We will do this through library work, reading research papers, doing projects, and writing and discussing our own ideas. Possible topics include quantum computing, nanotechnology, and biomolecular computing (including DNA based computing, which will be a focus).

In quantum computing, the quantum states of molecules are manipulated to achieve a computational result. Nanotechnology refers to devices on a smaller scale than micrometers. DNA based computing is at the intersection of several threads of research. The information bearing capability of DNA molecules is a cornerstone of modern theories of genetics and molecular biology. The information in a DNA molecule is contained in the sequence of nucleotide bases, which hydrogen bond in a complementary fashion to form double-stranded molecules from single-stranded oligonucleotides. Various aspects of life inspired early results in computer science in the 1950's (J. von Neumann's universal constructor and computer, S. Ulam's models of growth using cellular automata.) A second development occured in the early 1970's with J. Holland's computational implementation of fundamental biological mechanisms, such as genetic operations (splicing, recombination and mutation) and evolution. Finally, a third a stage inaugurated by L. Adleman’s 1994 proof of concept that recombinant properties of real DNA can actually use massive parallelism to solve problems appropriately encoded into single DNA strands.

The goal of the class is research. Therefore, we will concentrate on the tools of research (reading, writing, and digging for information), and the course should be a good introduction to research methods. The topic is one of great interest, and spans disciplines from physics to engineering and computer science to molecular biology.