Scientists have harnessed the power of bacteria to create a “computer” that’s capable of solving specialized math and logic problems. Explains the Guardian:
The research, published today in the Journal of Biological Engineering, proves that bacteria can be used to solve a puzzle known as the Hamiltonian Path Problem. Imagine you want to tour the 10 biggest cities in the UK, starting in London (number 1) and finishing in Bristol (number 10). The solution to the Hamiltonian Path Problem is the the shortest possible route you can take.
This simple problem is surprisingly difficult to solve. There are over 3.5 million possible routes to choose from, and a regular computer must try them out one at a time to find the shortest. Alternatively, a computer made from millions of bacteria can look at every route simultaneously.
As I understand it, the millions-strong bacteria are massively parallel-processing — actually, it’s somewhat akin to the promise they keep holding out of quantum computing, when every answer comes up simultaneously and instantaneously.
I’m not sure that I ever want a bacterial computer growing on agar in a Petri-dish desk, but I’m intrigued by the possibilities. You know, the bacterial computer was created by splicing different genes into the bacteria — some that glow red and some that glow yellow. When all this genetic engineering was still pie-in-the-sky, I don’t remember people saying, “Hey, if we can just do this futuristic gene splicing, we can get bacterial computers that instantly solve pressing tourism-related problems!”
So it seems to me this is one of those spin-off benefits that no one anticipated. Cool! Go science!
Grant Hamilton
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