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Updated: Jul 17, 2025
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DNA-Tethered RNA Polymerase for Programmable In vitro Transcription and Molecular Computation
Published on: December 29, 2021
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A Hybrid Transistor with Transcriptionally Controlled Computation and Plasticity
Yang Gao1, Yuchen Zhou2,3, Xudong Ji4,5
1McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA.
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|August 30, 2023
Summary
Researchers created hybrid organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) using bacteria. These OECTs can translate biological computations into electrical signals for advanced biosensing and biocomputing applications.
Area of Science:
- Bioelectronics
- Biosensing
- Biocomputing
Background:
- Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) are crucial for interfacing biological systems with electronics.
- Challenges exist in creating programmable and modular methods for living systems to interact with OECTs.
Approach:
- Fabricated planar p-type OECTs utilizing the electroactive bacterium *Shewanella oneidensis*.
- Demonstrated that extracellular electron transfer (EET) from *S. oneidensis* drives OECT channel de-doping.
- Engineered plasmid-based Boolean logic gates to control EET flux via transcriptional regulation, translating biological computation into electrical signals.
Key Points:
- Established a direct link between bacterial extracellular electron transfer (EET) and OECT electrical output.
- Successfully implemented genetic control over biological computation within OECTs using Boolean logic gates.
- Showcased EET-driven modulation of OECT synaptic plasticity.
Conclusions:
- This work pioneers hybrid OECTs for studying fundamental EET mechanisms.
- Enables the development of novel OECT-based biosensing and biocomputing systems.
- Offers genetically controllable and modular design elements for future bioelectronic devices.
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