Washington_ Thet DNA, the genetic material of life, might help to produce faster and cheaper computer chips, determined a team of investigators, Prensa Latina reports.

According to the last edition of the Amazings magazine, this goal can be achieved when it is formed into specific shapes through a process reminiscent of the ancient art of paper folding.

"We would like to use DNA's very small size, base pairing capabilities and ability to self-assemble, and direct it to make Nano scale structures that could be used for electronics," Adam T. Woolley said.

He explained that the smallest features on chips currently produced by electronics manufacturers are 14 nanometers wide. That's more than 10 times larger than the diameter of single-stranded DNA, meaning that this genetic material could form the basis for smaller-scale chips.

"The problem, however, is that DNA does not conduct electricity very well," he says. "So we use the DNA as a scaffold and then assemble other materials on the DNA to form electronics."

To design computer chips similar in function to those that Silicon Valley churns out, Woolley, in collaboration with Robert C. Davis and John N. Harb, is building on other groups' prior work on DNA origami and DNA nanofabrication.

Woolley noted that a conventional chip fabrication facility costs more than 1 billion dollars, in part because the equipment necessary to achieve the minuscule dimensions of chip components is expensive and because the multi-step manufacturing process requires hundreds of instruments. In contrast, a facility that harnesses DNA's knack for self-assembly would likely entail much lower startup funding.

"Nature works on a large scale, and it is really good at assembling things reliably and efficiently," he said. "If that could be applied in making circuits for computers, there's potential for huge cost savings."

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