A deoxyribozyme-based molecular automaton

• Published in: Nature biotechnology Vol. 21; no. 9; pp. 1069 - 1074
• Main Authors: Stojanovic, Milan N, Stefanovic, Darko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Nature 01.09.2003; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Algorithms; Artificial Intelligence; automatons; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Biotechnology; Competitive Behavior; Computers, Molecular; Computing Methodologies; Cybernetics - methods; DNA, Catalytic - chemistry; Fluorescence; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Industrial applications and implications. Economical aspects; Information Storage and Retrieval - methods; Logic; Macromolecular Substances; Molecular Sequence Data; oligonucleotides; Other applications; Human; Play; Automaton; Boolean logic; Deoxyribozyme; Artificial intelligence
• ISSN: 1087-0156; 1546-1696
• DOI: 10.1038/nbt862

We describe a molecular automaton, called MAYA, which encodes a version of the game of tic-tac-toe and interactively competes against a human opponent. The automaton is a Boolean network of deoxyribozymes that incorporates 23 molecular-scale logic gates and one constitutively active deoxyribozyme arrayed in nine wells (3x3) corresponding to the game board. To make a move, MAYA carries out an analysis of the input oligonucleotide keyed to a particular move by the human opponent and indicates a move by fluorescence signaling in a response well. The cycle of human player input and automaton response continues until there is a draw or a victory for the automaton. The automaton cannot be defeated because it implements a perfect strategy.