Smaller computer chips to be produced using DNA

DNA already forms humans, now it may help form microchips

The technology sector is always looking for ways to create smaller microchips with more transistors packed into them, and researchers at IBM may have found a way to do that with the aid DNA.

IBM researchers began with tiny structures called DNA origami, which are specially engineered strands of DNA that fold themselves into predefined shapes. The researcher found that they could arrange the DNA origami precisely on plates used to make semiconductors.

The DNA itself would not form the transistors. Instead, carbon nanotubes would be placed around the DNA molecules, which would allow the tubes to self-assemble around the molecules, thus forming the transistors in place on the semiconductor substrate.

While the IBM scientists are excited by the discovery, they say it will be at least five years before it can be incorporated into marketable technology. One of the kinks they have yet to work out is placing the DNA origami in the correct position at the start of the process, a crucial step in ensuring that transistors assemble themselves in the correct places and orientation.

Engineers who work on these projects face the difficult proposition of maintaining Moore's law, which holds that microchips double the amount of transistors they can hold roughly every two years. Nonetheless, those who are interested in the challenge may want to look into their options in industrial engineering degree programs.