DNA computer could tell you if your drinking water is contaminated

A biological computer controlled by DNA offers a cheap and simple way to test the concentration of contaminants in drinking water. And experiments show that logical operations borrowed from computer science can be engineered into the DNA to make future biological computers far more powerful at detecting contaminants. Julius Lucks at Northwestern University in Illinois and his colleagues created a biosensor in 2020 that can detect contaminants in a single drop of water. It contains proteins that react to the presence of certain chemicals by producing fluorescent molecules. This easily spotted reaction acts as a warning that a water sample is polluted with these chemicals.