Solving computational learning problems of Boolean formulae on DNA computers

Abstract

We apply a DNA-based massively parallel exhaustive search to solving the computational learning problems of DNF (disjunctive normal form) Boolean formulae. Learning DNF formulae from examples is one of the most important open problems in computational learning theory and the problem of learning 3-term DNF formulae is known as intractable if RP ≠ NP. We propose new methods to encode any k-term DNF formula to a DNA strand, evaluate the encoded DNF formula for a truth-value assignment by using hybridization and PCR, and find a consistent DNF formula with the given examples. By employing these methods, we show that the class of k-term DNF formulae (for any constant k) and the class of general DNF formulae are efficiently learnable on DNA computer.