Making DNA Add

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 273; no. 5272; pp. 220 - 223
• Main Authors: Guarnieri, Frank, Fliss, Makiko, Bancroft, Carter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for the Advancement of Science 12.07.1996; American Association for the Advancement of Science; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Addition; Algorithmics. Computability. Computer arithmetics; Algorithms; Applied sciences; Base Sequence; Biochemistry; Biological and medical sciences; Computer science; control theory; systems; Computerized, statistical medical data processing and models in biomedicine; Computers; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Exact sciences and technology; Information Transfer; Integers; Mathematical Computing; Mathematical Models; Mathematical sequences; Medical schools; Medical sciences; Models and simulation; Molecular Sequence Data; Numbers; Polymerase chain reaction; Templates, Genetic; Theoretical computing; Addition; Combinatorics; Algorithm; Binary number; DNA
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.273.5272.220

Recent studies have demonstrated the feasibility of using DNA-based experiments to compute solutions to combinatorial problems. However, a prerequisite for designing a computer useful in a wide range of applications is the ability to perform mathematical calculations. The development of a DNA-based algorithm for addition is presented. The DNA representation of two nonnegative binary numbers is presented in a form permitting a chain of primer extension reactions to carry out the addition operation. To demonstrate the feasibility of this algorithm, a simple example was executed biochemically.