---
title: "Scientists Used CRISPR to Turn a Cell Into a Biological Computer"
description: "Using CRISPR gene editing tools, MIT scientists turned a human cell into a tiny computer that could be used to detect diseases and churn out treatments."
date: "2019-04-17"
modified: "2019-04-17"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/scientists-crispr-cell-biological-computer"
categories:
  - "Health & Medicine"
tags:
  - "CRISPR"
  - "medicine"
  - "the digest"
---

# Scientists Used CRISPR to Turn a Cell Into a Biological Computer

![Using CRISPR gene editing tools, MIT scientists turned a human cell into a tiny computer that could be used to detect diseases and churn out treatments.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/scientists-crispr-cell-biological-computer.png>)
*\<em\>Image: Marc Vidal/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Splinter Cell

Scientists say they've gene-hacked a human cell, using CRISPR tech to turn it into a tiny biological computer complete with the cellular analog of dual core processors.

The squishy little CPUs could eventually lead to powerful computers housed entirely within a cell, [according to *New Atlas*](<https://newatlas.com/crispr-cell-computer/59336/>), that would detect and treat diseases.

## Logic Gates

The cellular computers, [described in research](<https://www.pnas.org/content/116/15/7214#abstract-2>) published in the journal *PNAS* this month, mimic the normal process by which organisms turn genetic information into the proteins that carry out specific tasks within a cell.

The computer is programmed to take in specific genetic codes and perform computations that result in the production of a particular protein. Except instead of simply following the DNA's genetic code as a cell does, the computer receives two inputs and combines them, calculating the correct protein to churn out.

## Targeted Medicine

The researchers behind the cellular computers say that they could be programmed to scan for certain biomarkers signifying the [presence of a disease](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/new-crispr-tech-cure-herpes>) and, if all the right conditions are met, mass produce molecules or proteins that could help treat it, according to *New Atlas*.

"Imagine a microtissue with billions of cells, each equipped with its own dual-core processor," MIT researcher Martin Fussenegger told *New Atlas*. "Such 'computational organs' could theoretically attain computing power that far outstrips that of a digital supercomputer — and using just a fraction of the energy."

**READ MORE:** [CRISPR used to build dual-core computers inside human cells](<https://newatlas.com/crispr-cell-computer/59336/>) \[*New Atlas*\]

**More on CRISPR:** *[New CRISPR Tech Could Cure Herpes](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/new-crispr-tech-cure-herpes>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)