--- title: "Bacteria Instead of Processors: Canadian Scientists Create a Biocomputer Solving NP-Complete Problems" description: "Researchers from McGill University have created a biocomputer based on E. coli and V. natriegens bacteria that solves NP-complete problems through the parallel movement and reproduction of microorganisms in a microfluidic network." date: 2026-11-04T02:08:48.319Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/bacteria-biocomputer-mcgill-np-complete tags: [] author: "Alexander Buran" publisher: "XAB.info" --- # Bacteria Instead of Processors: Canadian Scientists Create a Biocomputer Solving NP-Complete Problems ![Microfluidic chip with bacteria under a microscope for biocomputing](https://xab.info/media/2026/11/04/bio-kompyuter-na-baze-bakteriy-mcgill/bio-kompyuter-na-baze-bakteriy-mcgill-1.webp) ## Key Points - An experimental biocomputer based on E. coli and V. natriegens bacteria has been developed. - Computations are performed through the parallel movement and reproduction of bacteria in a microfluidic network. - The system successfully handled the NP-complete Subset Sum problem. - The invention does not replace electronic or quantum PCs, but complements them for specific complex tasks. An international team of researchers led by specialists at McGill University in Canada has presented an experimental biocomputer where computations are performed not by silicon chips, but by motile bacteria independently exploring a network of microscopic channels. According to the authors, the natural reproduction of bacteria works as a process of parallelizing computations: when solving encryption tasks, training artificial intelligence, and in other mathematically complex cases, colonies of microorganisms prove more efficient than processors with sky-high clock frequencies. The work is published as part of international cooperation, with bioengineering professor Dan Nicolau acting as the senior author of the study. ### Operating Principle: A Million «Chips» Instead of One Unlike traditional processors that sequentially iterate through solution options, the proposed platform uses the parallel movement of numerous biological agents. The network of microscopic channels represents a vast space of possible routes, yet only a few of them — or even just one — lead to the correct answer. The key advantage of the system lies in the bacteria's ability to reproduce directly during computations, which increases the number of simultaneously operating «computational elements» without the need to preload additional agents into the system. «Modern electronic computers perform millions of operations per second using a single chip,» explains Dan Nicolau. «When bacteria divide, we have a million chips working simultaneously. The more chips, the faster a problem can be solved, even if the number of operations per second on each „processor“ is lower.» According to him, the exponential division of bacteria opens up «a completely new way of computing». ### The Subset Sum Problem and Microfluidic Architecture As a test computational task, the scientists chose the NP-complete Subset Sum problem: it was necessary to determine which combinations of numbers from a given set yield a specific sum. To solve it, a microfluidic network made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was fabricated, consisting of numerous connected channels and special nodes. Each possible route corresponded to a specific combination of numbers, and the branching and joining of channels acted as logic gates where biology itself forced bacteria to «choose» a path for the further development of the colony. The geometry of the microchannels and nodes was designed to control the direction of bacterial movement and minimize errors. Electron beam lithography and etching of a silicon substrate were used to fabricate the structures, after which the resulting mold was replicated in plastic. ### Two Types of Bacteria — Two Behavioral Profiles The experiments used two strains: Escherichia coli HCB437 and Vibrio natriegens. Both species moved independently through the network, choosing different routes. Meanwhile, V. natriegens, which has a high reproduction rate, fully lived up to expectations: as they moved along the channels, the bacteria rapidly formed new cells that continued to explore available routes, and the number of computational agents increased directly within the system. Observations at branch nodes showed differences in the behavior of the two strains: E. coli chose left and right directions with probabilities of 50.1% and 49.8% respectively, whereas V. natriegens showed a pronounced bias toward the left direction — 61.1% versus 38.3%. The probability of incorrectly passing straight nodes was 1.3% for E. coli and 0.3% for V. natriegens. Tracking of successful routes was carried out using automated image analysis, allowing researchers to determine the combinations satisfying the problem conditions. ### Not a Replacement, but a Supplement: The Niche of the Biocomputer According to the authors, the biocomputer is not meant to replace classical electronic or quantum computers. Its role is to become a resource-saving and economical tool for finding solutions to problems that were previously considered unsolvable in a reasonable time frame. «Our method is designed to solve problems that electronic computers cannot handle, such as protein structure mapping,» Nicolau said. «It has been reported that AI coped with this task, but this is only partly true, as it can only process available data. We propose using this technology to solve problems rather than for estimation based on past information.» Thus, the bacterium-based biocomputer is positioned as a specialized platform for a class of problems where parallelism and the exponential growth of the number of agents provide a fundamental advantage over sequential processing. ## Fact-Check & Sources - [Учёные заставили бактерии размножаться ради решения сложных задач window-new](https://3dnews.ru/1150811/uchyonie-zastavili-bakterii-razmnogatsya-radi-resheniya-slognih-zadach) - The research was led by Professor Dan Nicolau from McGill University. ## FAQ ### What is a bacteria-based biocomputer? It is an experimental computing system where motile bacteria exploring a network of microchannels are used instead of silicon chips to perform parallel computations. ### What problem did the scientists solve? The scientists solved the NP-complete Subset Sum problem by determining combinations of numbers from a given set that yield a specific sum.