182

2015

­

13.3

2010

Thus, “natural computing“(often also referred to as “analog computing“, when, as in

the case of the slime mold, only an analog task is solved, but it is also calculated analogly

and not digitally) has already achieved great success. However, the electronic computer is

still used for difficult tasks. However, this may soon change due to advances in molecular

biology.

13.7

Future Level of Communication: The Nanocellulose Chip

It is interesting to note that bioinformatics can be used to elaborate, but also to advance,

the idea that a new level of language is within our grasp. However, it is essential that we

also reach this level in concrete terms, so that the stability and security that the Internet

already gives us for the transmission of information also applies to other aspects of our

production, to computer technology and to everyday life. At the same time, the new tech­

nology is also sustainable, without electronic waste and will not be destroyed by radioac­

tive radiation or nuclear weapons. Let us take a closer look at this example as a particularly

gripping subject area for the new branch of bioinformatics (theory) and molecular biology

(practice, experiments).

How can you know that and how is that possible? Well, it is a technique that uses DNA

as a storage medium, polymerases to synthesize and read in sequences, and exonucleases

to degrade and read out the sequences. Nanocellulose provides a matrix for the enzymes

and DNA. Crucially, however, light-controlled protein domains allow the polymerases,

exonucleases and other molecules to all be driven by light of different wavelengths. All of

these building blocks already occur naturally in bacteria. The light-sensitive control

domains are so-called blue light-sensitive protein domains (e.g., the BLUF domains in

Escherichia coli; Tschowri et al. 2009), which in bacteria ensure that when blue light is

incident, a stress response protects the bacterium against harsh environmental conditions

and UV light. Similarly, polymerases and exonucleases from coli bacteria, for example,

have long been used in a targeted manner. The fact that DNA enables a very high informa­

tion storage density (1 g DNA stores up to 10 to the power of 18 bits, i.e. an exabyte) was

13  Life Invents Ever New Levels of Language