short comment from Adleman on DNA computing, DES and RSA

["Jean-Francois Avon" <jf_avon@citenet.net>]

Hi Cypherpunks and e$-ers.

After having read Adleman's Sci Am article, I couldn't help but ask him...  :-)

The following message is re-posted with his permission

Ciao

jfa


==================BEGIN FORWARDED MESSAGE==================
From: Len Adleman <xxxxxxxx>
To: Jean-Francois Avon <jf_avon@citenet.net>
Subject: Re: Your article in Scientific American and RSA

Thank you for the kind words regarding the Sci Am article. I have thought about
using DNA for breaking cryptosystems. It does appear convievable that a code like
DES could be broken. However, because RSA can simply increase the size of keys to
overcome whatever computing power DNA provides, I do not think it represents a
threat to RSA.

We of course have a long way to go to see whether we can actually get DNA to live
up to its potential.

If you are unfamiliar with quantum computation I think you might enjoy reading
about it - it, at least in theory, could represent a threat to RSA. I believe that
you can find info on the www.
-Len

Jean-Francois Avon wrote:

> Greetings.
>
> Your article in SciAm blew my mind!
>
> I bought the magazine after having seen it because of my interest/inquietude
> of new computing ways that could break RSA (and similar public key) encryption
> schemes.
>
> The most fantastic thing is that I bought the magazine after having browsed
> the article but without even having read who was the author of the article!
> [laughs]
>
> Now, here is my question, which you *surely* figured out: can a method could
> be devised (using DNA computing) that would decrease the security of RSA?  And
> if yes, what would it imperil ( keys, individual cyphertext, etc?)
>
> I could not see a trivial way of effecting multiplication and division, but
> then, maths have never been my forte... ;-)
>
> Any comments?
>
> Highest regards
>
> jfa
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Jean-Francois Avon, B.Sc. Physics, Montreal, Canada
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