Imagine a biological computer that operates inside a living cell, one that can be used to determine if a cell is cancerous and then trigger its death. In this project, this is done using DNA as a programmable material.

Just like a computer, DNA is highly programmable into a whole range of complex behaviors. This could enable a whole a range of biotechnology applications, allowing for detection and treatment of disease at a level of precision that has not been possible so far. It can also allow the making of new medical compounds far more efficiently, and ultimately allow the making of biological computers created at the molecular scale.

We meet the team at Microsoft Research to learn more about this groundbreaking science.

To find out more about the Microsoft Research DNA project please visit: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/project/programming-dna-circuits/

Microsoft Research – Programming DNA