Although advertisements for Apple's MacBook Air are popping up all over the media, the latest scientific evidence suggests there's a new kid in town that may guide engineers to develop faster, more sleek computers than ever before - a microscopic algae with a hard outer shell.
The group of single-celled algae that go by the name 'diatoms' are quite popular among scientists. According to Michael Sussman, UW-Madison professor of biochemistry, researchers have spent years studying diatoms because of their ubiquitous presence in all bodies of water. In a recent press release, Tom Mock, a University of Washington postdoctoral researcher of oceanography, also cited the important role diatoms play in sucking carbon dioxide from the Earth's atmosphere. Now, in a quest to create faster computer chips, scientists are studying the ways in which diatoms use silica to fashion their protective coat.
On Jan. 21, Sussman, Mock and other scientists reported they had identified genes within diatoms that appear to be involved in the nanofabrication of their silica cover. Silica is a molecule composed of oxygen combined with the element silicon, the chemical compound used in the production of computer chips.
Engineers, who are currently limited to creating computer chips in the micrometer scale, or one millionth of a meter, are interested in copying the nano-building properties (construction in one billionth of a meter dimensions) of diatoms to build smaller, faster computer chips. Sussman and others believe the secrets of the nanofabrication of computer chips in the future may be hidden within the genetic activity of diatoms.
If we can find a protein that manipulates silica at the nanometer level we can use them as a scaffold to build the next computer chip,"" Sussman said. Although he admits the process of using diatoms to create new and improved computer chips would take time, understanding the activity of diatom genes is the first step.
By mapping the entire diatom genome and exposing the algae to various environmental conditions, Sussman and others identified 75 genes that may be specifically involved in the nanoproduction of silica, as noted in their paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. While the findings represent only a clue into how diatoms perform the nanofabrication engineers desire for future computer chips, it nonetheless brings scientists closer to understanding nanofabrication.
""It's just the beginning. When the [diatom] genome was first sequenced three years ago, it was like a baby being born,"" Sussman said. ""We're just starting to crawl now. We're not even walking yet.""
""You can think of diatoms as one of nature's books - a book in a language we don't understand,"" Sussman said. ""There are hundreds of thousands of words we don't understand [in the book] and out of those 100,000, we've figured out the 100 words we should worry about first.""
In the future, Sussman and others will look for ways to genetically manipulate and control the nanofabrication of silica shells. Eventually, researchers hope their findings can be translated into an application in building new computer chips.
""Nature has used three billion years of evolution to create really odd organisms. Over the three billion years, nature likely solved many of the problems we now face,"" Sussman said. ""If we can work to reveal their secrets to solve problems to improve society, I think it'd be really cool.
