Overview
- The Maynooth University team published their work in Nature on Sept. 16 and reported a system called the Scaffolded DNA Computer, which runs calculations by letting DNA strands self‑assemble rather than by using electricity.
- The SDC is built with a long scaffold strand folded by many short, sequence‑specific 'staple' strands, a design known as DNA origami that programs where pieces can bind on the scaffold.
- In lab tests the researchers ran more than 700 computations across 10 programs, including complex 100‑bit calculations, and they demonstrated reusability with some programs rerun up to 24 times and one experiment revived after 1.5 years.
- Run times vary by task: simple calculations can finish in about 30 seconds while harder 100‑bit problems took up to roughly 14 hours, and results are read out from the final molecular configuration rather than by electronic signals.
- The team says the approach points to low‑energy data storage and molecular sensors but notes major limits remain for practical use, including read‑out methods, speed versus silicon, scaling to larger problems, and integration with living cells.