In a recent paper, researchers were able to use the properties of DNA self-assembly to classify images. First, they encoded an image into DNA tiles. Then they used self-assembly to generate the shape of a letter that corresponded to an input image. The image classification which was 80% accurate.
Biophysical processes happen all the time in our body and seeing how something as simple as DNA can perform complex calculations is fascinating. In a weird way, it’s easier to understand how these systems work by transposing what we would typically think of as computer algorithms into biophysical processes.
From Nature Vol 625.
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