Scientists know that the clean chemical processes in nature offer alternative routes to new syntheses of a wide range of useful products — from raw materials used by the chemical industry, to sophisticated computing systems able to engage with the human body.
Using Nature’s Productivity
Nature performs chemical reactions with very little waste and minimal energy. These natural processes are the subject of research in industrial scale systems to underpin a sustainable synthetic chemical industry.
It has been researching the potential of ‘microfluidic reactors’ — instruments that recreate cells using living behavior in laboratories via funding from the EU. These flow reactors are made up of many small channels that help to separate and direct various molecules, ultimately guiding them through a step-by-step sequence and allowing chemical reactions to take place in an even more bio-akin manner on a continuous basis.
This microfluidic-flow methodology, which minimizes waste and energy consumption and increases conversion efficiency over the traditional industrial practice of achieving reactions in batch-mode within closed systems (e.g., flasks or chambers). So far, the researchers have used this technology to create a microfluidic device that converts vegetable fats into biofuel.
Computing with Chemistry
They are also studying how the intricate networks of chemical reactions (CRNs) engineered on microfluidic chips could be harnessed for computing that require low energy. Plan is to develop ‘chemical computers’ able to tackle real-world computing tasks and maybe even interface with human body
That may sound like the stuff of science fiction; after all, it is predicated on the notion that the human mind is the most efficient computer in existence (and certainly one that uses chemical process). Indeed, all of our organs that keep track of the state in the body and make appropriate outputs are information processors.
The researchers think that by copying the way that chemical information is processed in nature, we might be able to develop wearable medical devices communicate with the body by harnessing natural biochemical signaling. These were able to analyse the chemical composition of blood and synthesise different chemicals in response, which opened up possibilities for tailored treatment of a range of conditions.
Although these are still ways off, the researchers are doing good work in developing them. They have shown programmable information processing in a network of reactions mimicking processes within cell metabolism, supporting the idea of chemical computers.
Conclusion
The research being carried out to discover how nature’s optimised chemical processes can be applied to create entirely new, green industrial practices and methods of computing could hold the key to the solution for some of our most pressing environmental and health challenges. Inspired by sophisticated solutions that are elegant, efficient and sustainable in nature, these researchers are forging a future where the chemical industry and information technologies can co-habit with our world in synergy.
