Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 4 hrs ago
Researchers build a biocomputer that uses bacteria to explore solutions
An international team of scientists developed a computer that uses bacteria to process information, with findings announced by McGill University in Montreal.
The system uses E. coli and Vibrio natriegens, bacteria chosen for their predictable movement and rapid reproduction.
To test it, researchers turned the Subset Sum Problem into a network of branching tunnels, with each route representing a possible solution.
The bacteria moved through the tunnels and explored many routes at once, while image analysis helped identify paths that met the problem’s conditions.
This approach could help with problems that are difficult for conventional computers, which typically examine possibilities in sequence and may need substantial memory for such tasks.
The researchers say bacterial systems are slow and may need to be very large for demanding uses, but they may offer another way to process information; no future application or timeline is specified.
Researchers at McGill University announced a biocomputer that uses bacteria to explore possible solutions to problems.
The system was tested on the Subset Sum Problem, which becomes exponentially harder as the number of inputs grows.
Researchers built tunnels that represent possible solution paths and tracked bacteria moving through them.
The bacteria can explore many paths at once, while reproducing to create additional processing units.
The researchers say the approach could help solve problems that are difficult for conventional computers.
- Who
- An international team of scientists, including researchers from McGill University.
- What
- They developed a biocomputer that uses bacteria to process information and explore possible solutions.
- When
- McGill University announced the findings on Nov. 3. The paper was published earlier in 2026.
- Where
- McGill University in Montreal announced the findings. Researchers from Canada, Europe, the United Kingdom and Australia contributed.
- Why
- The researchers say the system could help solve problems that are difficult for standard computers.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
An international team of scientists developed a biocomputer that uses bacteria to process information.
The researchers published a paper detailing the results in Nature.
McGill University announced the findings.
- Bacteria used
- Escherichia coli and Vibrio natriegens
- Test problem
- Subset Sum Problem
- Physical system
- A network of tunnels representing branches in a graph of possible input combinations
- Research institution
- McGill University, Montreal
- Announcement date
- Nov. 3
What people are saying
Electronic (sequential) computers are not meant, or designed, to solve decision trees
The biocomputer must be huge!
A computer is a device which accepts (input) numbers and gets out (output) numbers. Full stop.