The key to the next big computer chip breakthrough could be tiny algae that encase themselves in intricately patterned, glass-like shells.
The unicellular algae, called diatoms, exist in oceans, lakes and even wet soil and build their hard cell walls by laying down microscopic lines of silica, a compound related to the key material of the semiconductor-industry silicon.
“If we can genetically control that process, we would have a whole new way of performing the nanofabrication used to make computer chips,” Michael Sussman, a UW-Madison biochemistry professor and director of the UW-Madison’s Biotechnology Center, said in a UW press release.