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Genetic analogue of the transistor

14.04.2013

The biological device was called a "transcriptor" after the name of the synthesis of RNA molecules based on DNA. It is this process that is the useful output of the genetic transistor. From several such devices, scientists managed to create a set of primitive logic gates: AND, AND-NOT, OR, and others.

Transcription in cells is carried out by enzymes of the class of DNA-dependent RNA polymerases. They sequentially move along the DNA chain, creating an RNA molecule on its basis. To control the work of the polymerase, scientists added terminator regions to the DNA chain, which cause the dissociation of the enzyme from DNA and the cessation of synthesis.

The control mechanism (analogous to the gate voltage in a field-effect transistor) is the possibility of changing the orientation of the terminators - to stop transcription, or to pass the polymerase. For switching, integrase enzymes are used, which are able to cut and paste sections of DNA.

Cascades of "transcriptors" allowed researchers to amplify the work of genes that cause cell fluorescence. It was by the luminosity of various cells that scientists in the process of experiments understood which of them correctly worked out the laid down logical scheme.

In the future, new biological devices could help build genetic computers. Various advances in the field of biological informatics have been previously reported. So, scientists were able to develop genetic relays, DNA memory modules and a way to encode messages using biological objects.

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Neutrino against caries 02.10.2015

American scientists from the Indiana University in Bloomington and the University of Southern Utah have found that the trillions of neutrinos that permeate the human body every second without harm to health are involved in the formation of most of the fluorine in the universe.

Fluorine occupies a place in the periodic table between oxygen and neon, but it is relatively rare in the Universe. To find out its origin, astronomers examined 79 stars using the 2,1-meter telescope of the Kitt Peak National Observatory in the Arizona desert (USA).

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