Peptide computing is a form of
computing
Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, ...
which uses
peptide
Peptides (, ) are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. Long chains of amino acids are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty amino acids are called oligopeptides, and include dipeptides, tripeptides, and tetrapeptides.
...
s, instead of traditional
electronic components. The basis of this computational model is the affinity of
antibodies towards peptide sequences. Similar to
DNA computing
DNA computing is an emerging branch of unconventional computing which uses DNA, biochemistry, and molecular biology hardware, instead of the traditional electronic computing. Research and development in this area concerns theory, experiments, a ...
, the parallel interactions of peptide sequences and antibodies have been used by this model to solve a few
NP-complete
In computational complexity theory, a problem is NP-complete when:
# it is a problem for which the correctness of each solution can be verified quickly (namely, in polynomial time) and a brute-force search algorithm can find a solution by trying ...
problems. Specifically, the
hamiltonian path problem (HPP) and some versions of the
set cover problem
The set cover problem is a classical question in combinatorics, computer science, operations research, and complexity theory. It is one of Karp's 21 NP-complete problems shown to be NP-complete in 1972.
Given a set of elements (called the un ...
are a few NP-complete problems which have been solved using this computational model so far. This model of computation has also been shown to be
computationally universal (or Turing complete).
This model of computation has some critical advantages over
DNA computing
DNA computing is an emerging branch of unconventional computing which uses DNA, biochemistry, and molecular biology hardware, instead of the traditional electronic computing. Research and development in this area concerns theory, experiments, a ...
. For instance, while
DNA is made of four building blocks,
peptide
Peptides (, ) are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. Long chains of amino acids are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty amino acids are called oligopeptides, and include dipeptides, tripeptides, and tetrapeptides.
...
s are made of twenty building blocks. The peptide-antibody interactions are also more flexible with respect to recognition and affinity than an interaction between a DNA strand and its reverse complement. However, unlike DNA computing, this model is yet to be practically realized. The main limitation is the availability of specific
monoclonal antibodies required by the model.
See also
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Biocomputers
Biological computers use biologically derived molecules — such as DNA and/or proteins — to perform digital or real computations.
The development of biocomputers has been made possible by the expanding new science of nanobiotechnology. The ter ...
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Computational gene
A computational gene is a molecular automaton consisting of a structural part and a functional part; and its design is such that it might work in a cellular environment.
The structural part is a naturally occurring gene, which is used as a skelet ...
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Computational complexity theory
In theoretical computer science and mathematics, computational complexity theory focuses on classifying computational problems according to their resource usage, and relating these classes to each other. A computational problem is a task solved ...
*
DNA computing
DNA computing is an emerging branch of unconventional computing which uses DNA, biochemistry, and molecular biology hardware, instead of the traditional electronic computing. Research and development in this area concerns theory, experiments, a ...
*
Molecular electronics
Molecular electronics is the study and application of molecular building blocks for the fabrication of electronic components. It is an interdisciplinary area that spans physics, chemistry, and materials science. The unifying feature is use of mo ...
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Parallel computing
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Unconventional computing
Unconventional computing is computing by any of a wide range of new or unusual methods. It is also known as alternative computing.
The term ''unconventional computation'' was coined by Cristian S. Calude and John Casti and used at the First In ...
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Molecular logic gate
References
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Classes of computers
Models of computation
Molecular biology
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