Ribozymes as Molecular Logic Gates

德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校核酶作为分子逻辑门生物大分子具有执行计算的潜力。由Adleman和他的同事开创的“DNA计算机”已经被证明能够进行简单的计算。然而，这些计算机在很大程度上是基于“杂交逻辑”，涉及数字编码链之间的碱基配对相互作用。对“杂交逻辑”的强调限制了核酸计算的实用性和适用性，因为在环境条件下读取或读出答案的方法很少。核酸酶（核酶）可能被证明相当于硅计算基础上的晶体管或逻辑门，并且可能通过直接与环境连接并产生易于阅读的答案来潜在地增加核酸计算的最终适用性。核酶逻辑门将被开发并与中尺度形状元素（称为MUFFINS）集成，用于环境中分析物的逻辑评估。

EIA-0218447Andrew D. EllingtonUniversity of Texas at AustinRibozymes as Molecular Logic GatesBiological macromolecules have the potential to perform computations. 'DNA computers' such as those pioneered by Adleman and his co-workers have already been shown to be able to perform simple calculations. However, these computers have for the most part been based on 'hybridization logic' involving base-pairing interactions between digitally encoded strands. The emphasis on 'hybridization logic' limits the utility and applicability of nucleic acid computation because there are very few ways to read in environmental conditions or read out answers.Nucleic acid enzymes (ribozymes) may prove to be the equivalent of the transistors or logic gates that underlie silicon computation, and could potentially increase the ultimate applicability of nucleic acid computation by interfacing directly with the environment and generating easily read answers. Ribozyme logic gates will be developed and integrated with mesoscale shape elements (known as MUFFINS) for the logical evaluation of sets of analytes in the environment.