Optimal DNA Codes for Computing and Self-Assembly

Until very recently, DNA has been considered just as primary storage of instructions for the makeup of living organisms. Over a decade ago, (Adleman, 1994) gave the successful demonstration of a DNA’s potential use for different purposes, more specifically, a solution to the Hamiltonian Path Problem (HPP), a problem considered beyond reach for feasible solution on conventional computers. A computational equivalent of the well known traveling salesman problem (TSP), the Hamiltonian Path problem (HPP) calls for deciding the existence of a Hamiltonian path to traverse the edges a directed graph with two singled out as source and destination vertices. The problem calls for a Boolean decision whether there exists a Hamiltonian path joining the source ABSTRACT