researchers from Columbia University in new York combined in a single chip, the elements of biological systems and silicon microelectronics. In the future this will allow to implant the nanoelectronics into living cells and actively "borrow" elements of biological systems to their integration into electronic gadgets, writes "RIA Novosti".

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researchers from Columbia University in new York combined in a single chip, the elements of biological systems and silicon microelectronics. In the future this will allow to implant the nanoelectronics into living cells and actively "borrow" elements of biological systems to their integration into electronic gadgets, writes "RIA Novosti".

power Source for the chip is provided by the molecule ATP is the universal cellular "Energobalance" that allows you to create a real "live" silicon electronic devices. the "We are pleased that we can now teach chips to collect energy or even to recognize molecules. In other words, the chip will be able to "smell" and "taste"", — said Ken shepherd, one of the participants of the project.

Biological systems and electronics is fundamentally opposite to each other in how information is passed — in computers its carriers are electrons, and in living organisms — ions and a special membrane that control their flows. The authors of the research "taught" them to communicate with each other, creating a special lipid membrane, which converts the energy contained in the molecules of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), main energy carrier in the cells of all organisms, an electric current that can read the chip.

Such a "hybrid" chip that resides in an environment rich in ATP, will be able to use molecules to supply itself with electricity. The membrane can be modified in such a way that it will absorb molecules of ATP only in the presence of certain other substances. This will allow the chip to determine what in the environment are present, such as toxins or cancer cells.

"Now to search for bombs in airports, we need dogs, but in the future we will be able to borrow from them only the part — molecules that recognize the smell of explosives, to create electronic analogues of a dog's nose. With this technology, we don't need the cage or animal — we can only take what we need," concludes shepherd.

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