• Interdisciplinary Bio Central
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.10.1-10.8
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• 2011

Introduction: Hash functions are computer algorithms that protect information and secure transactions. In response to the NIST's "International Call for Hash Function", we developed a biological hash function using the computing capabilities of bacteria. We designed a DNA-based XOR logic gate that allows bacterial colonies arranged in a series on an agar plate to perform hash function calculations. Results and Discussion: In order to provide each colony with adequate time to process inputs and perform XOR logic, we designed and successfully demonstrated a system for time-delayed bacterial growth. Our system is based on the diffusion of ${\ss}$-lactamase, resulting in destruction of ampicillin. Our DNA-based XOR logic gate design is based on the op-position of two promoters. Our results showed that $P_{lux}$ and $P_{OmpC}$ functioned as expected individually, but $P_{lux}$ did not behave as expected in the XOR construct. Our data showed that, contrary to literature reports, the $P_{lux}$ promoter is bidirectional. In the absence of the 3OC6 inducer, the LuxR activator can bind to the $P_{lux}$ promoter and induce backwards transcription. Conclusion and Prospects: Our system of time delayed bacterial growth allows for the successive processing of a bacterial hash function, and is expected to have utility in other synthetic biology applications. While testing our DNA-based XOR logic gate, we uncovered a novel function of $P_{lux}$. In the absence of autoinducer 3OC6, LuxR binds to $P_{lux}$ and activates backwards transcription. This result advances basic research and has important implications for the widespread use of the $P_{lux}$ promoter.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.545-553
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• 2009

String matching is a fundamental element of an important category of modern packet processing applications which involve scanning the content flowing through a network for thousands of strings at the line rate. To keep pace with high network speeds, specialized hardware-based solutions are needed which should be efficient enough to maintain scalability in terms of speed and the number of strings. In this paper, a novel architecture based upon a recently proposed data structure called the Bloomier filter is proposed which can successfully support scalability. The Bloomier filter is a compact data structure for encoding arbitrary functions, and it supports approximate evaluation queries. By eliminating the Bloomier filter's false positives in a space efficient way, a simple yet powerful exact string matching architecture is proposed that can handle several thousand strings at high rates and is amenable to on-chip realization. The proposed scheme is implemented in reconfigurable hardware and we compare it with existing solutions. The results show that the proposed approach achieves better performance compared to other existing architectures measured in terms of throughput per logic cells per character as a metric.