DNA Strands Modified Into Tiny Fiber-Optic Cables

w1z4rd

Karmic Sangoma
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"New Scientist reports on the latest idea from researchers trying to make microcomputers use photons in place of electrons — to make optical interconnects from strands of DNA. Mixing DNA strands with the right dye molecule upgrades them into wires for light, like microscopic optical fibers, able to absorb photons at one end and transmit them to the other. One of the neat things about using DNA is it is the right scale to play nicely with existing and future chip lithography. Quoting: 'The result is similar to natural photonic wires found inside organisms like algae, where they are used to transport photons to parts of a cell where their energy can be tapped. In these wires, chromophores are lined up in chains to channel photons.'

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16029-dna-strands-become-fibre-optic-cables.html?DCMP=ts
 
Woha, nice find ;). DNA as optical nanocables? Sounds reasonable. What about centrioles and other tube-like structures in cells. They are able to interact with light and direct it as well. Are they actual quantum computing structures, sort of like the eyes of small organisms as described at this site?
Cell intelligence.

Also, nice flash presentation on the 3D structures of these organelles and how they interact with light.
Cilia in vision and consciousness.

And is DNA itself capable of quantum computation?
Quantum Computing in DNA
 
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Seems fiber-optic technology (like nanotube technology) is also a few hundred million years old.
Light Inside Sponges: Sponges Invented (and Employed) The First Fiber Optics
ScienceDaily (Nov. 19, 2008) — Fiber optics as light conductors are obviously not just a recent invention. Sponges (Porifera) -- the phylogenetically oldest, multicellular organisms (Metazoa) -- are able to transduce light inside their bodies by employing amorphous, siliceous structures.

Sponges, those same critters with parts of the nervous system present in their genome but actually lack a nervous system. Yet these parts are interchangeable and function just like they should in animals that do have a nervous system. Link
 
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Phronesis, I think at this point we can qualify your posts as SPAM because it serves no other purpose. So in the spirit of keeping MyBB clean...

RAS!!!
 
Phronesis, I think at this point we can qualify your posts as SPAM because it serves no other purpose. So in the spirit of keeping MyBB clean...

RAS!!!
nauseous_monkey, it is a pity that you pretend to like science but when someone else wants to talk about science-related issues you claim it is spam. You might not be fond of science-related subjects and actually discussing the related material in a specific thread, others might though. If you don't like to add to a specific thread, please respect others by not posting irrelevant comments. Please :).

Thank you.
 
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nauseous_monkey, it is a pity that you pretend to like science but when someone else wants to talk about science-related issues you claim it is spam. You might not be fond of science-related subjects and actually discussing the related material in a specific thread, others might though. If you don't like to add to a specific thread, please respect others by not posting irrelevant comments. Please :).

Thank you.

Since when do your posts qualify as Science?

It's called pseudo-science, quasi-science, faux-science...

oh and

Biomolecular Machines :cool:
 
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