Parallel Computations with DNA-Encoded Chemical Reaction Networks

Abstract Molecular programs use chemical reactions as primitives to process information. An interesting property of many of these amorphous systems is their scale-invariant property: They can be split into sub-parts without affecting their function. In combination with emerging techniques to compartmentalize and manipulate extremely small volumes of liquid, this opens a route to parallel molecular computations involving possibly millions to billions of individual processors. In this short perspective, we use selected examples from the DNA-based molecular programming literature to discuss some of the technical aspects associated with distributing chemical computations in spatially defined microscopic sub-units. We also present some future directions to leverage the potential of parallel molecular networks in applications.