  Sorting is a fundamental computational process, which facilitates subsequent
searching of a database. It can be thought of as factorisation of the search
process. The location of a desired item in a sorted database can be found by
classical queries that inspect one letter of the label at a time. For an
unsorted database, no such classical quick search algorithm is available. If
the database permits quantum queries, however, then mere digitisation is
sufficient for efficient search. Sorting becomes redundant with the quantum
superposition of states. A quantum algorithm is written down which locates the
desired item in an unsorted database a factor of two faster than the best
classical algorithm can in a sorted database. This algorithm has close
resemblance to the assembly process in DNA replication.
