A team of researchers from the University of Georgia and Ben-Gurion University has developed an electronic component so tiny, you can't even see it under an ordinary microscope. See, the team used a single DNA molecule to create a diode, a component that conducts electricity mostly in one direction. Further, the DNA molecule they designed for the study only has 11 base pairs. That makes it a pretty short helix, considering a human genome has approximately 3 billion pairs. To allow a current to flow through the DNA, the team inserted a molecule called "coralyne" into the helix. What the team came up with was a diode, because the current was 15 times stronger for negative voltages than for positive. http://www.engadget.com/2016/04/04/dna-worlds-smallest-diode/
Not the best diode, but pound for pound, it beats them all. I wonder what the inverse break-down voltage is. Expressed in field strength terms, that may beat them all too. How do you connect to it in a circuit?
It seems to be easy enough to make various gates out of simple diode switches. No mention here of transition or switching speeds, important for more complex applications. It would mean more to electronic manufacturers if it was also rad hard, but with the weight saved, you could shield the nanoscale circuits in a metal capsule and still save big over the equivalent complexity silicon die weight. An impressive achievement.
