The mention of the microbe species E. Coli and Salmonella are almost always bad news because of their association with food poisoning among humans. Synthetic microbiologists, though, see them very differently. To researchers in this field of study, the two may be the world's greatest computers.

In a recent study, it was observed that bacteria actually have the ability to solve mathematical problems using their DNA. With the proper conditions and stimulation, researchers can make these life forms act as if they were silicon ships on a supercomputer.

"The computing potential of DNA far exceeds that of any other material," says Davidson University  researcher and lead study author Karmella Haynes. "If we figure out how to increase that capacity in a practical manner we will have much more computing power."

To illustrate her point, Haynes put together a study which required E. Coli to solve a math problem called the Burnt Pancake Puzzle. The quiz involved a problem that deals with permutations and multiple solutions to an equation with increasing variables. To get E. Coli to "think", they were injected with a salmonella protein called flagellin which acts like an on and off switch. An antibiotic was later introduced to get the E. Coli to react.

To stay alive and protect themselves from the antibiotic, the E. Coli must activate their switches and simulate variables in the math problem. If they succeed, they are able to withstand the drugs. If not, they are punished with certain doom.

To the joy of the researchers, problems with up to two variables were solved by the microbes. The scientists say that this may be nothing compared to the processors of today, but it's certainly a nice deal of progress. The ability of microbes to approach math problems component-by-component rather than one part at a time as done by silicon chips, is a potentially faster way to get things done.

"This will open the door to a wide variety of biological computing," concludes Tom Knight, a synthetic biologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.