Molecular circuit for exponentiation based on the domain coding strategy

Front Genet. 2024 Jan 23:14:1331951. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2023.1331951. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

DNA strand displacement (DSD) is an efficient technology for constructing molecular circuits. However, system computing speed and the scale of logical gate circuits remain a huge challenge. In this paper, a new method of coding DNA domains is proposed to carry out logic computation. The structure of DNA strands is designed regularly, and the rules of domain coding are described. Based on this, multiple-input and one-output logic computing modules are built, which are the basic components forming digital circuits. If the module has n inputs, it can implement 2n logic functions, which reduces the difficulty of designing and simplifies the structure of molecular logic circuits. In order to verify the superiority of this method for developing large-scale complex circuits, the square root and exponentiation molecular circuits are built. Under the same experimental conditions, compared with the dual-track circuits, the simulation results show that the molecular circuits designed based on the domain coding strategy have faster response time, simpler circuit structure, and better parallelism and scalability. The method of forming digital circuits based on domain coding provides a more effective way to realize intricate molecular control systems and promotes the development of DNA computing.

Keywords: DNA strand displacement; domain coding; exponentiation; mapping module; molecular circuit.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants 62272424 and 62276239 and in part by the Key Scientific Research Project of Colleges and Universities in Henan Province (23A120003). Henan Central Plains science and technology entrepreneurship leading talent project (214300510009).