Advance the DNA computing

Advance the DNA Computing. (August 2003) Zhiquan Frank Qiu , B.S., University of Electronic Science and Technology of China; M.S., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Mi Lu It has been previously shown that DNA computing can solve those problems currently intractable on even the fastest electronic computers. The algorithm design for DNA computing, however, is not straightforward. A strong background in both the DNA molecule and computer engineering are required to develop efficient DNA computing algorithms. After Adleman solved the Hamilton Path Problem using a combinatorial molecular method, many other hard computational problems were investigated with the proposed DNA computer. The existing models from which a few DNA computing algorithms have been developed are not sufficiently powerful and robust, however, to attract potential users. This thesis has described research performed to build a new DNA computing model based on various new algorithms developed to solve the 3-Coloring problem. These new algorithms are presented as vehicles for demonstrating the advantages of the new model, and they can be expanded to solve other NP-complete problems. These new algorithms can significantly speed up computation and therefore achieve a consistently better time performance. With the given resource, these algorithms can also solve problems of a much greater size, especially as compared to existing DNA computation algorithms. The error rate can also be greatly reduced by applying these