This technology is a deoxyribozyme molecular automaton capable of detecting human input and generating a fluorescent output using molecular logic gates in order to play a complete game of tic-tac-toe against a human opponent.
Current computational approaches use silicon-based computing to solve complex problems. Unlike silicon-based approaches, molecular-based computing would enable computation both in vivo and in vitro. Although individual molecular gates and small networks have been constructed, the largest solution-phase molecular circuit contains only 20 logic modules. Therefore, there is a need to integrate these gates for higher levels of complexity.
This technology is a solution-phase deoxyribozyme assembly comprising over 100 molecular logic gates enabling the automaton to play a complete game of tic-tac-toe against a human opponent. The automaton is constructed from three classes of stem-loop chemically-controlled deoxyribozyme-based logic gates: (i) YESx gates that are activated by an input x, (ii) xANDy gates activated by inputs x and y, and (iii) xANDyANDNOTz gates that are activated by x and y in the absence of z. These gates are arranged into a 3 × 3 array within a 384-well assay plate. Upon making a move, the user adds an oligonucleotide to the wells, which initiates a cascade of reactions resulting in the emission of green fluorescent light under a fluorescent plate reader, whereas the automaton’s response is signaled by red fluorescent light. A set of 32 input oligonucleotides to which the logic gates can respond enable a total of 76 different game plays.
The automaton has played over 100 games of tic-tac-toe against a human opponent and has never lost.
IR 2052-a
Licensing Contact: Jerry Kokoshka