Technion Israel Institute of Technology scientists have developed a biological computer, composed entirely of DNA molecules and enzymes constructed on a gold-coated chip, that can run 1 billion programs.

This increase represents a dramatic advance in terms of the potential mathematical operations and complexity of problems that may be solved using a biological computer, according to a Technion statement.

“The chip allows for automatic, real-time readout of the computation results, with no need to employ elaborate techniques of molecular biology, such as gel electrophoresis and the use of radioactively labeled materials,” said Ehud Keinan, Dean of Technion’s Faculty of Chemistry.

“Computation on a chip allows efficient parallel computation with many, geographically labeled input molecules. Such computers could have a variety of practical applications, including encryption of information.”

Technion news release