Biological computer diagnoses cancer and produces drug in a...( identify in the test tube the signs o...)

identify, in the test tube, the signs of one form of lung cancer. One day in the future, they hope to create a "doctor in a cell", which will be able to operate inside a living body, spot disease and apply the necessary treatment before external symptoms even appear.

The original version of the biomolecular computer (also created in a test tube) capable of performing simple mathematical calculations, was introduced by Shapiro and colleagues in 2001. An improved system, which uses its input DNA molecule as its sole source of energy, was reported in 2003 and was listed in the 2004 Guinness Book of World Records as the smallest biological computing device.

Shapiro: "It is clear that the road to realizing our vision is a long one; it may take decades before such a system operating inside the human body becomes reality. Nevertheless, only two years ago we predicted that it would take another 10 years to reach the point we have reached today."

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Contact: Alex Smith
asmith@jgordonassociates.com
212-367-3892
American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science
28-Apr-2004

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