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Researchers Use AI to Develop RNA-Based Synthetic NAND Switch in Living Cells

Researchers at TU Darmstadt have engineered the first RNA‑based synthetic NAND gate by linking two riboswitches that respond to distinct ligands. Using high‑throughput screening combined with a deep‑learning‑driven Bayesian optimization loop, they evaluated only 82 variants to isolate sequences that exhibit near‑digital NAND behavior. The breakthrough demonstrates that complex Boolean logic can be programmed directly into living cells without protein cofactors. The work, published in Nucleic Acids Research, showcases an AI‑accelerated pipeline for designing functional RNA circuits.