Stanford Engineers Craft Biological Computer
Bring on the cyberpunkery
A team of Stanford engineers has invented genetic transistors, completing a simple computer within living cells.
The startling achievement, unveiled in Friday's issue of the journal Science, presages the day when "living computers" inside the human body could screen for cancer, detect toxic chemicals or even turn cell reproduction on and off.
"We're going to be able to put computers inside any living cell you want," said lead researcher Drew Endy of Stanford's School of Engineering.
