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

Indeed, Luca Cardelli, who also works for Microsoft Research, likens biological cells to computers.

ECONOMIST: Computing and biology

Instead of looking at how computers can mimic creatures, he wants to build computers from biological components.

ECONOMIST: Computing and biology: Arresting developments | The