Future bio-nanotechnology to use computer chips inside living cells

(Nanowerk Spotlight) Continuing miniaturization has moved the semiconductor industry well into the nano realm with leading chip manufacturers on their way to CMOS using 22nm process technology. With transistors the size of tens of nanometers, researchers have begun to explore the interface of biology and electronics by integrating nanoelectronic components and living cells. While researchers have already experimented with integrating living cells into semiconductor materials (see “Scientists integrate living brain cells into organic semiconductors”) other research is exploring the opposite way, i.e. integrating nanoelectronics into living cells.