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Updated: Aug 17, 2025

DNA-Tethered RNA Polymerase for Programmable In vitro Transcription and Molecular Computation
Published on: December 29, 2021
Construction of a scalable DNA computing nano-system for large-scale and complex logical operations
Chunyang Zhou1, Yiwei Song1, Xiuyan Jin1
1Biomedical Engineering, School of Life Science and Technology, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun, 130031, China. 1281957328@qq.com.
Abstract:
The predictability of Watson-Crick base pairing provides unique structural programmability to DNA, facilitating the development and application of biomolecules in biocomputing. However, in DNA-based biocomputing, the scale of operation that can be achieved by an existing reaction system is very limited. How to expand the operation range of a logic circuit and realize the integration and extensibility of circuits is always the key problem to be solved in this field. In this work, by designing a multifunctional DNA-nanostructure-based reaction platform, which can realize an output of up to 2 scalable fluorescence signals, combined with the construction of an input "library" and a modular distribution strategy of output signals, for the first time, we successfully performed the calculation of both square roots and cube roots of consecutive integers within a decimal number of "10" and in each result of the operation, two digits after the decimal point are preserved (). We believe that the design concept presented in this work can help effectively solve the urgent problems of biological computing in terms of computational scaling, integration and scalability, and can open up new horizons for the design of new functional devices and complex computing circuits.
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