DNA DESIGN BASIS FOR FUTURE MICROCHIPS

       IBM says it is looking to "DNA origami" for a powerful new generation of ultra-tiny microchips.
       The US computer giant has collaborated with California Institute of Technology researchers to develop a design for microchips that mimic the way chains of DNA molecules fold, allowing for processors far smaller and denser than any seen today.
       "This is a way to assemble an electronics device of the future," said Bill Hinsberg, manage of the lithography group at IBM's Almaden Research Centre in California.
       "It offers a potential way to construct nano-scale devices. The industry has always gone in the direction of making things smaller, because that opens the realm of possibilities.
       A tenet of the chip industry is Moore's Law, a history-backed belief that the number of transistors that can be placed on a computer circuit doubles every two years, enabling smaller but increasingly powerful computing devices.
       Lithography is a common method of making computer chips that have shrunk to contain technology measuring a mere 22 nanometres, or 22 one-thousand-millionths of a metre.
       The DNA origami method can allow for chip features as small as 6 nanometres, IBM said.
       "At some point, it gets more difficult to get smaller," Barnett said. "We've pursued DNA origami as a way to assemble an electronic device of the future."
       DNA origami chips would have vastly increased data storage capacity, leading to smaller, faster and smarter devices, IBM said.
       "It took a couple of years, but once you figure out how to do it, it's easy," said lead IBM researcher Greg Wallraff.