Researchers from the University of Manchester have demonstrated for the first time the feasibility of a new super-fast form of computer that “grows as it computes”, known as a nondeterministic universal Turing machine (NUTM). Their research is to be published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. The breakthrough promises an exponential boost in speed over electronic and quantum computers.
The key difference between the new model and its predecessors is that the computer’s processors are made of DNA rather than silicon chips. This means that when the computer needs to choose a path in a calculation, it can duplicate itself and follow both paths at once. This increases its potential to find an answer and the speed of processing.
