biocomputer n.
a computer having components and circuits formed from or modelled on biological molecules or structures
In later use, as an actual scientific term: a computing device which uses the chemical properties of biological molecules (esp. DNA) to store and process information.
Science
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1952 Big Hunger in Astounding Science Fiction Oct. 107/2
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Walter M. Miller, Jr.
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He crushed them, or harnessed them to his plow, or borrowed their neural circuits for his bio-computers.
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1961 in Amazing Stories Apr. 88/2
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Hugo Gernsback
There will come the future amazing day…when Amazing Stories will be composed, or perhaps outlined in detail, not by human authors, but by an electronic biocomputer-menograph (menos-mind).
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1992 Repair Man in Aboriginal Science Fiction Summer 38/2
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Valerie J. Freireich
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‘Caprice is my first experience with a biocomputer. Hardware systems have to stay on secure paths on the strings—but I think I prefer them to having a mutilated man trapped inside my ship.’…. ‘Captain, this is tissue, not a man. Don’t let shape fool you. A man is memories and purpose, but 303XT only reacts and calculates…. When it all comes together, biocomputer intuition makes them unbeatable by hardware-only systems.’
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2007 Bridge in Asimov’s Science Fiction Aug. 74
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Kathleen Ann Goonan
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The dedicated interstices of their cocoons, the cables which sent the daily updates to eyelike biocomputers, ended at Frank Quick’s safe.
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2012 The Pass in Asimov’s Science Fiction Mar. 59
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Benjamin Crowell
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They planted a new self-supporting biocomputer right here in Bristlecone, out of town next to the river where it would have plenty of water and sunlight. I guess it’s like planting a tree—you just don’t want to plant them too close together.
Research requirements
antedating 1952
Last modified 2021-01-03 18:25:30
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