By Eureka Bharali

Chips powered by DNA structures christened ‘DNA origami’ would be a boost to the Moore’s Law. The current hi-tech 22 nanometer (nm) microchips could turn to be a long yawn, as the DNA structure can shrink chip dimension to six nm.

The DNA structure is prepared via self-assembling of DNA molecules in a solution, through a reaction between a long single strand of viral DNA and a mixture of different short synthetic oligonucleotide strands. The output, which is a fiber or staple, develops into a 2Dform. The DNA structure acts as a circuit board and components like nanotubes and nanowires can be assembled within a dimension as small as six nm, which is not feasible via conventional fabrication methods.

The idea was introduced at the California Institute of Technology and at IBM;s Almaden Research Center. The DNA chips are IBM’s effort to reclaim its legacy of introducing wacky technology trends. The company had earlier heralded notions like Autonomic computing, a data center with a mind of its own, and Hyperspeech Transfer Protocol (HSTP) to enable phone users to frame their own ‘voice websites’.

The introduction of the new chip technology has scrapped temporarily the predictions of researchers like iSuppli who believed that Moore’s Law will be dead by 2014. “Even Gordon Moore himself has predicted the end of Moore's Law twice, but he was wrong both the times,” says In-Stat's Chief Technology Strategist, Jim McGregor. DNA chips would also imply a reduction in the costs of manufacturing once it is unveiled, which would take a couple of years. With the launch of the DNA microchips, the future can expect feather versions of gadgets like mobiles and computers where microchips are used the most.

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