"It can calculate the square root of a 10-bit binary number (within the decimal integer 900) by designing DNA sequences and programming DNA strand displacement reactions," the paper reads.

To demonstrate that it worked, the authors constructed a system that calculated the floor of the square root of a four-bit binary number. This required 74 different single-stranded molecules of ...

A DNA-based computer uses simple base-pairing to create AND and OR logic gates. 130 different double-stranded molecules later, the answer to a square root calculation popped out. Read the whole story ...