Proteins Help Researchers Build a Flash Memory Device

ckwu writes "Researchers in Japan and Taiwan have demonstrated the first working flash memory device made using proteins as scaffolding to build a 3-D nanoparticle structure. Compared to current fabrication techniques, using proteins to arrange nanoparticles could enable the design of smaller memory devices and more complex, multilayer electronics. According to the researchers, their mulitlayer flash memory had twice the capacity of a conventionally made single-layer device."

Great for the paranoid.

[ColdWetDog]

Worried about the government getting your data? Fry up your memory and serve it on crackers.

MMMM. Protein.

Re:Great for the paranoid.

[ColdWetDog]

Actually, it's kinda interesting tech. They took a fairly easy to understand molecule, Ferritin, which binds iron in the blood, made some little critters with modified ferritin so it bound silicon instead and used them as a lattice to set up a flash memory cell.

Can't make tofu out of it, but perhaps a cell phone. I can't wait for marketing to get a hold of the tech - "organic protein cell phone" or some such. Maybe Apple can invent it.

Re:

[Bengie]

An Organic Apple?

Mmmmmm.

[djupedal]

chips!

Re:

[K. S. Kyosuke]

chips!

Now with fish, apparently.

Let me be the first to nickname them...

[Mr. Neutron]

"Protein bars."

Re:

[Nkwe]

"Protein bars."

The snack that improves memory when consumed in nibbles and bytes.

Not that it's not great

[i kan reed]

But it sounds like something out of a Random Tech story generator.

Subject:
"[TechList A] helps [Tech Professionals List B] [Fix/Improve/Build/Cure] [Tech List C]"

Body
"[Tech professional List B] have [devised/demonstrated/published] a new method to use [Tech List C] in the process of [Fix/Improve/Build/Cure]ing [Tech List A]. [Major Scientific Journal/Regular publication] shows unprecedented improvement in [Tech List A]. According to [Tech Professional List B], performance of [Tech List A] has [doubled/tripled/become consumer ready] compared to the old version of [Tech List A]".

Just great...another gimmick.

[Vegan Cyclist]

Now even microchips are falling for the Atkins/Paleo high-protein fad!

Re:

[JazzLad]

Planned obsolescence?

Re:

[iggymanz]

you had Read the Freeping Small Text Under the Diagram in the Article (RTFSTUTDINA), you'd see they only use the protein as temporary scaffold to lay down iron oxide particles, and then burn the protein away with ozon and UV. So the protein only stinks while its getting fried away

manufacturing costs?

[SeanInSeattle]

This doesn't matter until the manufacturing costs are either less than or equal to the current cost to manufacture flash devices. Its a long road from scientific achievement to higher capacity flash storage for the masses.

One question

[Gravis Zero]

What's the read/write time?!

Brotein

[Uncle Mark (AUS)]

Proteins help researches...build the muscle, MANG!?!