R&D: Future Computers Could Be Powered By Living Gut Bugs

Boffins at Imperial College London have been researching the use of bacteria to create standard logic gates such as AND, NOR & NOT to construct a living computer with. They have actually created working prototypes that give the correct logical outputs for the corresponding inputs. The bacteria used was the common E. coli found in the gut and as typical food poisoning in a meal from a bad restaurant.

The scientists have also shown that these gates can be connected together combinatorialy, to provide complex logic functions, something that's critical to building any kind of digital circuit that is to have a useful function, such as a processor, no matter how simple. This original work, published in Nature magazine is worded in highly technical scientific language and is not easily understandable by us mere untrained mortals. However, for those that wish to dare try, click here. Here's a small sample:

INTERSECTIONS INTERNATIONAL RECTIFIER INTERNATIONAL GAME TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES (IBM) INTERDIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS