The Molecular Computing Group

DNA-based computing is at the intersection of several threads
of research. The informaiton bearing capability of DNA
molecules is a cornerstone of modern theories of genetics and
molecular biology. The informaitonin 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 astage inaugurated
by L. Aldeman'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.
Much work, ranging from the highly speculative to the realistic
kind has been stimulated by this seminal paper.

Dr. Russell Deaton
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Dr. Max Garzon
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John Rose
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Dr. D.R. Franceschetti
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Dr. S.E. Stevens, Jr.
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