DNA computer performs 100-bit calculations through chemical reactions

Researchers at Maynooth University built a molecular computer that performed ten programs, including 100-bit calculations, using DNA rather than electrical circuits. The work was published in Nature on September 16. The team designed a long DNA strand and shorter strands that assemble into a microscopic grid when heated and cooled in water and salt. Instructions are encoded in the sequences: as strands bind and separate, the arrangement changes until its final structure represents the answer. The experiments included addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The result demonstrates laboratory computation through chemical reactions, with potential uses in molecular sensing and long-term data storage.