MIT engineers build living logic gates from engineered bacteria

Researchers at MIT have developed bacterial transistors that can be linked to form functional circuits capable of processing information and controlling chemical outputs. These biological computers could eventually be applied to plant roots or leaves to perform sensing or computation in natural environments.

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The research adapts the fundamental principles of electronic computing to the cellular level. Instead of relying on electrical currents, these engineered biological components process information through chemical interactions, effectively acting as switches that can be toggled on or off.