Organic Computers?

[Michael]

Bacteria make computers look like pocket calculators

Biologists have created a living computer from E. coli bacteria that can solve complex mathematical problems.

Computers are evolving – literally. While the tech world argues netbooks vs notebooks, synthetic biologists are leaving traditional computers behind altogether. A team of US scientists have engineered bacteria that could solve complex mathematical problems faster than anything made from silicon.

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 – one route might start in London (number 1) and finish in Bristol (number 10), for example. The solution to the Hamiltonian Path Problem would be the route that takes in each city just once.

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 one that visits each city only once. Alternatively, a computer made from millions of bacteria can look at every route simultaneously. The biological world also has other advantages. As time goes by, a bacterial computer will actually increase in power as the bacteria reproduce.

Source (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2009/jul/24/bacteria-computer)

Wow. This is very interesting indeed. Doesn't surprise me at all actually as I've been expecting sci-fi to come up with organic computers for quite a while.

[Donkey]

It's an exciting time to be alive.

[Lily]

Reproducing E. coli. In my line of work we see that as a bad thing. Will I one day be purchasing a MRSA laptop or a Pneumococci PDA? :p

That's pretty amazing stuff. I'll have to read more about this.

[Americano]

From my own specialized research, organic is superior.

[The Drunk Guy]

I sure as hell hope it's cheaper than organic food. :eek:

[The Drunk Girl]

Hmm...:ummm: This is pretty interesting indeed.

I'm not much in the computer knowledge department, but how is this going to be safe for humans to use, especially when the bacteria are able to multiply?

This also makes me wonder if other bacteria that are part of our normal flora are able to perform like this...and if so, what possible effects could/do they have on us as humans other than protection, or making us sick when there are too much?

On the other hand, I have to admit that I am rather disappointed not to see my specimens of E.coli wearing glasses after doing an anal swab a few months back :(

[drgoodtrips]

I think the comparison here is pretty sensationalized for journalistic purposes. This isn't to say I doubt the potential of creating "organic computers", but rather that I don't think the "carbon versus silicon" debate is addressed at all by bacteria-based computers computing Hamiltonian tours.

Hamiltonian tours are an example of NP hard math problems (traveling salesman, for instance). NP hard problems are problems that cannot currently be solved any way other than brute force - try every possible set of inputs and keep track of the best solution. This is the basis for encryption, among other things.

What they're talking about here is no paradigm shift. They're saying that the biological computer "beats" a silicon computer because it can try all possibilities simultaneously rather than sequentially. However, silicon based computers can do this too with parallel processing. They're essentially comparing a specialized, biological "super computer" to your $300 netbook, when they should be comparing it to a silicon super-computer.

[The Drunk Guy]

What they're talking about here is no paradigm shift. They're saying that the biological computer "beats" a silicon computer because it can try all possibilities simultaneously rather than sequentially. However, silicon based computers can do this too with parallel processing. They're essentially comparing a specialized, biological "super computer" to your $300 netbook, when they should be comparing it to a silicon super-computer.
So, a single biological processor wouldn't be faster than a single silicon processor? :shrug: