November 1999 HP Labs scientists have taken the first step toward building a computer in a test tube. A team headed by chemist Stan Williams and computer architect Phil Kuekes has created a molecular-based logic gate.
Logic gates are a basic building block of all computers.
Eventually, the researchers hope to build entire memory chips that are just a hundred nanometers wide, smaller than a bacterium. The HP researchers, working with a UCLAteam led by chemistry professor James Heath, published the results of their work in the July 16 issue of the journal Science. These molecular computer processors could wind up in wristwatch-sized supercomputers, woven into clothing or even in fingernail polish. Eventually, they may replace integrated circuits inside PCs. Chemical processors will be able to do all sorts of things silicon can't.