Remarkable Breakthrough: Kolkata Team Engineers Intelligent Bacteria to Solve Complex Math Problems!

At the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics in Kolkata, synthetic biologist Sangram Bagh and his team have achieved a remarkable breakthrough: creating intelligent bacteria capable of solving complex mathematical tasks. Traditionally, these tasks were only performed by humans or computers. Bagh’s team engineered Escherichia coli bacteria with ‘genetic circuits’ that function like artificial neural networks, allowing them to determine whether a number is prime or if a letter is a vowel.

The bacteria’s genetic networks are activated by chemical inducers. By combining differently engineered bacteria in a solution, they function as ‘bactoneurons’ in a bacterial computer. This innovation has sparked significant interest among synthetic biologists, with experts like Pawan Dhar highlighting its potential to revolutionize pharmaceuticals and medical sciences.

To emulate conventional computers, the team uses chemical signals coded in binary to prompt bacterial responses. For example, the bacteria can indicate whether a number is prime using red and green fluorescent proteins as binary outputs. Impressively, these bacterial computers have tackled increasingly complex tasks, including optimization problems.

This groundbreaking research expands the possibilities of biocomputing. It hints at a future where biological systems could handle computational duties traditionally performed by silicon-based computers, potentially enhancing early cancer detection and treatment. Sangram Bagh’s work not only paves the way for advanced biocomputing but also challenges us to rethink the biochemical nature of intelligence.

Original Story https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/saha-institute-kolkata-bacteria-solve-maths-problems-bactoneurons-intelligence/article68859080.ece
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Publish Date: 2024-11-13 05:30:00