Living cell-based computing system could advance medical biosensors

Researchers at Rice University, supported by a $1.99 million National Science Foundation grant, are developing a novel biological computing system that uses engineered bacterial cells as digital processors. This four-year project aims to create networks of microbes that communicate chemically or electrically, forming parallel computing systems capable of learning, adapting, and responding to environmental inputs. By integrating these microbial networks with electronic systems, the team hopes to build living computers that can perform complex computations with greater energy efficiency than traditional silicon-based hardware. This approach builds on the broader field of biocomputing, which leverages living matter—such as brain organoids or microbes—to overcome the high energy demands of artificial intelligence. Unlike existing efforts like the Swiss company FinalSpark’s organoid-powered AI platform, the Rice project uniquely focuses on microbes, exploiting their natural communication abilities to create adaptable, pattern-recognizing biosensors. Potential applications include advanced medical diagnostics and environmental monitoring, where living biosensors could detect chemical markers and transmit data electronically. The project also plans