Tiny DNA computer solves math in a drop of water
Scientists built a programmable DNA computer called the Scaffolded DNA Computer (SDC) that runs computations in a tiny drop of water by exploiting thermodynamic stability to encode results; the system uses billions of DNA strands interacting on a scaffold to perform calculations, demonstrated more than 700 computations (including basic arithmetic and parity checks), with small tasks often completing in under a minute and larger ones taking hours. The device is reusable and could lead to energy-efficient computation and potential applications in DNA data storage or devices operating inside living cells.