Professor of biological chemistry and developmental and cell biology, and co-director of the Center, Peter Donovan, feels the research could have massive benefits.

CNN: Designer babies: Creating the perfect child

Scientists have for the first time created laser light using living biological material: a single human cell and some jellyfish protein.

FORBES: Scientists Create A Living Laser

Instead of viewing a biological change in one portion of a cell, researchers using the Analyzer can track three different parts using highly precise lasers and digital cameras.

FORBES: Laser light shows

Researchers made all 9, 000 and tested them for biological activity, using automated robots to mix them with various cell types to see their effects.

FORBES: Magazine Article

We are beginning to peer into the molecular domain, acquiring in-depth details of the functions of the cell and formulating theories that describe the intricate pathways of the biological universe.

FORBES: Can Science Eliminate Disease?

While it is likely that getting such a computer to function inside a living cell remains some way off, the remarkably rapid progress of biological computers in controlled lab conditions means that that distant day looks to be getting closer.

ECONOMIST: A biological computer diagnoses and treats cancer

Advocates argue that in order to truly understand how basic biological processes work, they'll need to compare and contrast how different stem cell lines function.

BBC: Embryonic stem cells can be turned into any kind of cell

In 2002 MIT professors started a not-for-profit called BioBricks that has collected 2, 000 biological components, including gene sequences that sense light, produce light, send messages between cells and switch cell functions on and off.

FORBES: Architect of Life

Phosphorylation is a type of cell regulation involving the attachment to, or removal of, phosphate groups from proteins, thereby switching their biological functions on or off, or making them more or less stable.

BBC: Sir Philip Cohen