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Scientists develop molecular implantable biocomputers KurzweilAI.net, May 22, 2007 Researchers at Harvard and Princeton universities have taken a crucial step toward building biological computers, tiny implantable devices that can monitor the activities and characteristics of human cells. The information provided by these "molecular doctors," constructed entirely of DNA, RNA, and proteins, could eventually revolutionize medicine by directing therapies only to diseased cells or tissues. Evaluating Boolean logic equations inside cells, these molecular automata will detect anything from the presence of a mutated gene to the activity of genes within the cell. The biocomputers' "input" is RNA; the "output" molecules, indicating the presence of the telltale signals, are easily discernable with basic laboratory equipment. "Currently, we have no tools for reading cellular signals," says Harvard's Yaakov 'Kobi' Benenson, a Bauer Fellow in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences' Center for Systems Biology. "These biocomputers can translate complex cellular signatures, such as activities of multiple genes, into a readily observed output. They can even be programmed to automatically translate that output into a concrete action, meaning they could either be used to label a cell for a clinician to treat or they could trigger therapeutic action themselves." Molecular automata could allow doctors to specifically target only cancerous or diseased cells via a sophisticated integration of intracellular disease signals, leaving healthy cells completely unaffected.