10.3) DNA2DNA Applications :

10.3) DNA2DNA Applications :

Another area of DNA computation exists where conventional computers clearly have no current capacity to compete. This is the concept of DNA2DNA computations as suggested in [12] and identified as a potential killer app. DNA2DNA computations involve the use of DNA computers to perform operations on unknown pieces of DNA without having to sequence them first. This is achieved by re-coding and amplifying unknown strands into a redundant form so that they can be operated on according to techniques similar to those used in the sticker model of DNA computation. Many of the errors inherent in other models of DNA computing can hopefully be ignored in DNA2DNA computing because there will be such a high number of original strands available for operations.
The potential applications of re-coding natural DNA into a computable form are many and include:
➢ DNA sequencing;
➢ DNA fingerprinting;
➢ DNA mutation detection or population screening; and
➢ Other fundamental operations on DNA.

In the case of DNA mutation detection, the strand being operated on would already be partially known and therefore fewer steps would need to be taken to re-code the DNA into a redundant form applicable for computational form.

There are other models of DNA computation that suggest that DNA might be used to detect and evaluate other chemical and bio-chemical substances. In [16] it is suggested that nucleic acid structures, in addition to nucleic acid sequences, could play an important role in molecular computation. Various shapes of folded nucleic acids can be used to detect the presence of drugs, proteins, or other molecules. It is also suggested that selected or engineered ribozymes could be used as operators to effect re-write rules and to detect the presence of such non-nucleic acid molecules. Using these structures and operators to sense levels of substances, it would then be possible to compute an output readable using proposed biosensors that detect fluorescence or polarization. These biosensors could potentially allow communication between molecular sensory computers and conventional electronic computers.