StrandsMayReplaceChipsandElectrons.docVIP

Strands May Replace Chips and Electrons 生物计算机无可限量的未来--DNA分子链也许会取代芯片和电子 The element silicon is so closely identified with computers that most people would be likely to associate it more readily with Californias high-tech valley than with the periodic table. But such thinking may soon have to be radically revised, as high-speed computation moves beyond chips and machines to include the tools of biochemistry and genetics: test tubes, slides, solutions, even DNA. 　　硅元素与计算机的关系如此密切以至于大多数人可能更容易将它与加利福尼亚的硅谷而不是元素周期表联系起来。但是随着高速运算超越芯片和机器的局限将试管、承物玻璃片、溶液甚至脱氧核糖核酸（DNA）等生物化学和遗传学工具包括在内，这种想法可能很快就要做出根本性的修正了。 DNA is present in every living organism, and the appeal of the molecule as a supercomputer mechanism lies in its demonstrated ability to store a vast amount of information, indeed, all of the instructions for replicating life. Although the chemistry set wont be replacing your PC anytime soon, two groups of scientists demonstrated last month how these information-laden molecules might perform calculations in future computers. 　　每一种有机生命体中都存在着DNA，这种分子作为一种超级计算机装置的吸引力在于其已经得到证实的存储大量信息的能力--事实上复制生命所需的全部指令都存储在DNA中。尽管这种化学物质不会在短期内取代个人计算机，但是科学家组成的两个研究小组上个月已经向人们演示了这些满载信息的分子也许可以通过怎样的方式在未来的计算机中执行计算任务。 In January, scientists at the University of Wisconsin reported in the journal Nature that they had found a way to perform a simple calculation using strands of DNA that had been attached to a gold-plated surface. Previous experiments with DNA computing had allowed the DNA to float freely in a test tube, but Lloyd Smith, a chemist and leader of the Wisconsin research team, hopes his method will allow the wet chemical steps required for a calculation to be automated. Its a route to scaling up DNA computing to larger problems, says Smith of his experiment. 　　今年1月，威斯康星大学的科学家在《自然》杂志上发表研究报告指出，他们已经发现了一种利用附着在镀金物体表面的DNA分子链完成简单计算的方法。以前科学家在进行DNA计算实验的时候总是让DNA分子自由地漂浮在试管中，但是威斯康星大学研究小组的负责人、化学家劳埃德．史密斯希望他的方法可以让计算所需的化学湿选步骤自动进行。史密斯在谈到自己的实验时指出：这是按比例放大DNA的运算能力以解决更大问题的途径。 Another group, led by biologist Laura Landweber a