Metabolic pathways
These are carefully regulated, complex networks of interactions by which the proteins expressed by genes carry out the biological function of cells.
Petaflops
One "flop" is one floatingpoint operation (a computer calculation involving decimal fractions) per second. One petaflop equals a thousand trillion floating-point operations per second - about a million times faster than a high-end Pentium III or Pentium IV processor.
Nanocomputer
A computer whose physical dimensions are microscopic. Nanocomputing is part of the emerging field of nanotechnology. Many researchers consider biological processes in cells to be biochemical nanocomputers.
Quantum computing
The area of computer technology based on the principles of quantum theory. A quantum computer can be in multiple states at once (instead of the normal on/off binary mode we are used to), and performs tasks using all possible permutations simultaneously. It is unclear if a quantum computer is practical, but if it were, it would mark a massive leap forward in computing capability, with performance gains of a billion times and more.
