US Patent 7272511 - DNA memory with carbon nanotube addressing

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7272511.html

This patent from STMicroelectronics proposes a molecular memory using hybridization of DNA based using carbon nanotube addressing. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method for manufacturing a molecular memory device, comprising: forming an array of first nanoelectrodes on a substrate of insulating material; forming on said substrate a plurality of carbon nanotubes; functionalizing said nanotubes so that they are suitable for making contacts with DNA strands; contacting said first nanoelectrodes to first ends of the DNA strands; contacting said nanotubes to second ends of the DNA strands; hybridizing or not hybridizing said DNA strands to store desired data in the DNA strands.

US Patent 7238952 - Molecular motors for controlling DNA flow through nanopores

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7238485.html

Nanopore sequencing is a method of determining the sequence of nucleic acid molecules (e.g. RNA, DNA) by flowing such molecules through a nonopore aperature resulting in a detectable alteration of ionic current. This patent co-owned by Harvard, the University of California, and Agilent Technologies forms a molecular structure such as polymerases or ribosomes at the nanopore to act as a motor to better control the rate of analysis. Claim 1 reads:

1. A nanopore analysis system, comprising: (a) a structure having a nanopore aperture; and (b) a molecular motor adjacent the nanopore aperture, wherein the molecular motor is capable of moving a polynucleotide with respect to the nanopore aperture at a rate of 350-2000 Hz.

US Patent 7216792 - DNA electronics using R-loop bonding of nanoparticle

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7216792.html

www.biology-online.org defines an R-loop as a single stranded loop section of dNA formed by the association of a section of ssRNA with the other strand of the dna in this region whereby one dna strand is displaced as the loop. This patent from IBM claims a method of forming an electronic device such as a resonant tunneling diode using such R-loops to bind with nanoparticles. Claim 1 reads:

1. A method of fabricating an electronic device using biomolecules comprising: forming first and second electrodes on a substrate; extending bridging DNA between said first and second electrodes; providing at least one RNA complementary to a region of said bridging DNA wherein said at least one RNA and said bridging DNA bond to form at least one R-loop; and bonding at least one nanoparticle to said DNA within said at least one R-loop.

US Patent 7167847 - DNA Computer

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7167847.pdf

DNA is a candidate material for molecular computation devices. This patent from Fujitsu uses a genetic algorithm approach to "evolve" a solution to a complex computational problem by breaking the problem down into smaller parts. Claim 1 reads:

1. A DNA computer for carrying out computations using DNAs, comprising: a dividing part configured to divide a problem that is to be solved into a plurality of partial problems; and an operation part configured to obtain a DNA sequence corresponding to a solution to the problem, by combining DNA sequences corresponding to solutions of the plurality of partial problems.