A DNA equivalent of an electronic amp has brought biochemical computing a step closer.
Last year a team at the California Institute of Technology built logic gates from DNA (Science, vol, 314, p 1585). By ensuring that output strands from one gate acted as the input for another, DNA strands can be combined to form circuits. Now the team has figured out how to create a strand of reusable input DNA.
They start with multiple strands of DNA 鈥渟ubstrate鈥� with an output already bound to one section. The input then binds to the section of substrate that is complementary to it, leaving a small stretch free. A 鈥渇uel鈥� strand, also present, binds to this stretch, ousting both output and input. The input can be reused over and over until all the substrate has released its output strands (Science, vol 318, p 1078).
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