Using DNA for data storage is even more efficient
Erkmen Design/Alamy
DNA has long been used to store data, but encoding information into molecules is a painstaking process. Now, researchers are dramatically speeding up gene expression by mimicking the natural biological processes that drive it. This could lead to durable, do-it-yourself DNA data storage technology.
Even though one gram of DNA can store hundreds of millions of gigabytes of data, the technology to harness this is not yet fully operational. Part of the reason is that the process of encoding data in DNA requires that each molecule be synthesized “from scratch” after it is designed to encode specific information.
Long Qian and his colleagues at Peking University in China have now developed a more efficient way to write information into DNA.
“The use of typewriters, where you have to type each letter, is very similar to the use of printing,” says Harris Wang of Columbia University in New York, who was not involved in the study. “They can basically put all (information) on paper at once.”
The research team converted long strands of DNA into binary code, a sequence of ones and zeros used to store data in computing. They started with a ready-made DNA template that served as a base to which they added short DNA strands, similar to threading beads on a string. They then used a chemical reaction to add methyl groups, molecules made from carbon and hydrogen, to some of these “beads.” A methylated bead becomes a 1 in the binary code, and an unmethylated bead acts as a 0.
Cells naturally use the same methylation process to “modify DNA without changing the underlying sequence, allowing additional regulatory information layers to be stored stably over time,” Qian said. I am. She and her colleagues figured out how to run this process in parallel many times at once by adding a special barcode to each template. This allows 350 units of information, or bits, to be written into a DNA sample at a time. This is hundreds of times more than the previous standard of just one bit at a time.
In the test, they stored images of pandas and ancient Chinese tiger-shaped scrapes and retrieved them with a DNA sequencer that utilized error-correcting algorithms. The acquired images were reproduced with more than 97% accuracy.
The tiger’s etched scar (left) was encoded in DNA and captured as the image on the right
Cheng Zhang et al. (2024)
Finally, they made the process so convenient that 60 student volunteers used a do-it-yourself kit containing simple chemical equipment for the methylation reaction and a computer program to convert words into codes to generate DNA samples. Now you can practice saving text. Although these volunteers were not trained to work with DNA, the error rate in the encoding process was less than 2%. Qian said this could lead to “desktop DNA printers and storage kits being developed for use in homes and small organizations, allowing users to store important personal data such as legal documents and digital photos. , you will be able to back up your data in the following formats: Lasts for centuries. ”
Wang said he believes DNA-based technology could be particularly useful for archival storage, and while technology disks and magnetic tape may eventually become obsolete, DNA sequencing will continue to improve. said.
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