Programming Language to Build Synthetic DNA Developed

Researchers have developed a programming language for chemistry in an effort to control the behavior of chemical reactions the same way computer programmers write code to manipulate computer software.

The findings, published in Nature Nanotechnology, take the equations currently employed to outline chemical behavior and use them to write programs able to direct molecular movement.

"We start from an abstract, mathematical description of a chemical system, and then use DNA to build the molecules that realize the desired dynamics," Georg Seelig, a University of Washington assistant professor of electrical engineering and of computer science and engineering, said in a statement. "The vision is that eventually, you can use this technology to build general-purpose tools."

The approach, Seelig explains, provides far greater flexibility for scientists looking to construct a molecular network or repurpose one they've already built.

"I think this is appealing because it allows you to solve more than one problem," Seelig said. "If you want a computer to do something else, you just reprogram it. This project is very similar in that we can tell chemistry what to do."

Living organisms are already factories in which complex networks of molecules are at work; now, scientists are developing synthetic systems to mimic these biological ones. "To that end, a system is needed to create synthetic DNA molecules that vary according to their specific functions," a press release regarding the study explains.

Though not yet ready for application in, for example, the medical field, researchers say the new programming language could one day be used to make molecules that self-assemble within cells, serving as "smart sensors" that could then detect abnormalities and respond, including perhaps delivering drugs directly to a cell.